Report: Hamas rebuilds forces in northern Gaza, recruits 3,000 fighters

The Cradle, September 3, 2024 — 

As Israel moves to expand its war into the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian resistance in Gaza has continued to defy the odds nearly one year after 7 October

Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has “rebuilt its capabilities” in the northern Gaza Strip and has “recruited 3,000 new militants” nearly 11 months into Israel’s genocidal war, according to a security source who spoke with Channel 13 News on 2 September.

Channel 12 News has reported that, despite the colossal damage caused by the Israeli army in Gaza, “the latest information paints a worrying picture.”

“It is estimated that about 3,000 new fighters have been recruited into the movement, equipped with weapons and ammunition … This development raises great concern among security officials in Israel, as it indicates Hamas’ ability to recover, despite the severe damage it suffered at the beginning of the war,” the Hebrew news outlet cited security officials as saying.

Last month, a joint study by the Critical Threats Project (CTP) and the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) revealed that, after 10 months of war, the Israeli army managed to defeat only three out of a reported 24 battalions of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades.

“As of 1 July, only three of these 24 battalions were combat ineffective, meaning they were destroyed by the Israeli military,” CNN reported on 5 August, citing the study.

“If the Hamas battalions were largely destroyed [as Israel claims], Israeli forces wouldn’t still be fighting,” retired US Army Colonel Peter Mansoor told CNN. 

Former Israeli army ombudsman Yitzhak Brik said in late June that the numbers of Palestinian fighters the army claimed to have killed are false and that Israeli forces are taking severe losses while rarely coming face to face with them.

In May, military sources told Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth that Hamas will not be decisively defeated in Gaza until 2026 or 2027.

“We will not be in Gaza permanently. We’ll return for extensive raids deep into the territory to defeat a terror army built over 15 years … Meanwhile, the achievements of the forces that fought in Gaza are eroding, and there’s no conclusive political solution,” military sources revealed at the time.