Israeli Military Outline Terms Necessary To Eliminate Hamas Threat

Nine thousand militants were eliminated.

The Israeli military estimates that eliminating the Hamas threat will take all of 2024 or more. According to the IDF, 9,000 fighters were killed, but their infrastructure remained.

Bloomberg writes about this.

The Israeli military says its heaviest fighting is in the southern city of Khan Yunis, where it hopes to kill or capture Hamas leaders believed to be hiding in the tunnels with hostages.

Bloomberg writes that the fighting in the Gaza Strip turned out to be tougher than many Israeli military officials expected. About 220 Israeli soldiers were killed. But leaders insist they have made significant progress.

Israel still has many months ahead of it to achieve its goals, which include seizing or destroying ammunition and weapons and disabling Hamas military bases and tunnels, the intelligence officer said.

According to him, this will take all of 2024, and possibly more.

The officer also said that the command staff of the two remaining brigades — one in the center of the Gaza Strip and the other in the southern city of Rafah — were still intact. Each brigade is led by 70 to 150 commanders, and killing or capturing them is essential to eliminating these units.

Israel has been conducting a ground operation in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 Israelis.