Shortly before the start of Israeli military operations against Hamas, in response to the massacre of 1,200 Israeli on October 7, 2023, it is estimated that the terrorist organization was about number 25,000 to 30,000 fighters. According to Israeli security services, 17,000 to 23,000 of them have been eliminated over the last two years.

The US NGO ARMED CONFLICT LOCATION AND EVENT DATA (ACLED) specializes in collecting and processing the data of violent conflicts and global crises. One year after the start of Israeli military operations in October 2024, the NGO concluded that:

“Detailed reports of the Israeli Armed Forces, which include time, place or military operation, place the losses of the Palestinian organization fighters in about 8,500 dead.” At the same time, British and Israeli media are citing a secret Israeli database, which seems to confirm the data.

Despite the blows, Hamas still has administration

US NGO suspects that Hamas may have recruited new fighters for the past two years. US intelligence officials told Reuters early this year that the number of possible new Hamas fighters could range between 10,000 and 15,000.

“Hamas has suffered a lot of military blows, but he is able to rebuild and have both administration and control of the organization today,” Marina Mion, a specialist in military issues in the Department of Defense Studies at King’s College London, tells DW.

For Hamas survival is her real victory

Many experts agree that it will not be possible to eliminate Hamas, but only to weaken it. “Hamas has given priority to her survival, seconding the direct confrontation with Israeli forces.”the organization wrote in September. For Hamas the real victory is her survival.

‘Hamas is something like an ideology’, Hans-Jacob Siddler, an expert at the International Terrorism International Center, explains to DW microphone and adds: “You can’t destroy an ideology. The only way is to weaken its terrorist and military potential. “

Curated by: Stefanos Georgakopoulos