• Hamas fighting force reduced by half - US officials
    • Group relying on ambushes, improvised bombs, they say
    • Such tactics could sustain a lengthy insurgency
    • ‘There is no quick fix,’ says Israeli military

WASHINGTON, June 6 (Reuters) - Hamas has seen about half its forces wiped out in eight months of war and is relying on hit-and-run insurgent tactics to frustrate Israel’s attempts to take control of Gaza, U.S. and Israeli officials told Reuters. The enclave’s ruling group has been reduced to between 9,000 and 12,000 fighters, according to three senior U.S. officials familiar with battlefield developments, down from American estimates , opens new tab of 20,000-25,000 before the conflict. By contrast, Israel says it has lost almost 300 troops in the Gaza campaign. Hamas fighters are now largely avoiding sustained skirmishes with Israeli forces closing in on the southernmost city of Rafah, instead relying on ambushes and improvised bombs to hit targets often behind enemy lines, one of the officials said.

  • @_sideffectEnglish
    -3•5 months ago

    Lol dude, come on, don’t be naive.

    They changed Jews to Zionists only because of the heat they were getting from others.

    Their intent remains the same. They don’t differentiate between the two, because if they did, October 7th would have never happened.

    • @KeeponstalinEnglish
      2•5 months ago

      You’re right, their intent is the same, an end to the systemic supremacy and human rights abuses of living under an Apartheid Regime. Hamas began twenty years into the occupation during the first Intifada, with the goal of ending the occupation. Collective punishment has been a deliberate Israeli tactic for decades with the Dahiya doctrine. Violence such as suicide bombings and rockets escalated in response to Israeli enforcement of the occupation and apartheid.

      Israel is the one that intentionally conflates the two in order to deflect from criticizm. When Israel commits war crimes, or human rights abuses, or land grabbing, they are the ones that claim they do so for all Jewish people. When Zionist actions are criticized, they call it antisemitic. The conflation of the two is genuinely antisemitic, as the actions of Israel in no way represent all Jewish people.

      If you don’t want to be naive, I suggest you read the reports by human rights organizations.

      Year before Oct 7 - Jewish Voice for Peace

      2023 is ‘deadliest year’ for Palestinian children say human rights groups (Oct 6th)

      HRW Events of 2022 and HRW Events of 2023

      Reports about how Israel is an Apartheid State:

      Amnesty International Report

      Human Rights Watch Report

      B’TSelem Report with quick Explainer

      • @_sideffectEnglish
        -1•5 months ago

        Saying Hamas is right in using suicide bombers and murders is beyond apprehensive.

        And enough with the land grabbing bs. Every two state solution Israel has offered they turn down. Israel is always the first one at the peace table.