Half of Hamas WIPED OUT since Oct 7 forcing terrorists to go into ‘full insurgent mode’ to fend off Israeli onslaught

5 months ago 7

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RUTHLESS militant group Hamas has lost half its members since it began its assault on Israel and murdered 1,200 civilians on October 7.

The terrorist organisation has reportedly been left with no choice but to rely on hit-and-run insurgent tactics to fend off Israeli forces.

Hamas’ complex tunnel system could be helping militants move covertly underground before ambushing Israeli forces[/caption]

The militant group has used children’s backpacks to disguise bombs, says the IDF[/caption]

Hamas, which rules the densely-populated enclave of Gaza, has been reduced to between 9,000 and 12,000 fighters, according to three senior US officials familiar with battlefield developments.

The group was estimated to have had 20,000 to 25,000 members before it launched its unprecedented attack on Israel last year.

Israel has meanwhile lost about 300 troops in the war, it claims.

Hamas militants are now largely relying on ambushes and improvised bombs to hit Israeli targets instead of engaging in sustained battles with Israeli forces, an official told Reuters.

The shift in tactics comes as Israel’s military closes in on Rafah, a city in the south of Gaza near the border of Egypt where Israel says Hamas militants have been hiding.

Terrorists are believed by Israel to be trying to conceal themselves among civilians, seeking shelter in places such as schools.

Israel’s military said it “eliminated” several militants in a blitz on an alleged “Hamas compound” at a UN school in Gaza overnight, as reports emerged that 39 Palestinians – including five children – died.

Gaza resident Wissam Ibrahim told Reuters: “In earlier months, Hamas fighters would intercept, engage and fire at Israeli troops as soon as they pushed into their territory.

“But now, there is a notable shift in their mode of operations, they wait for them to deploy and then they start their ambushes and attacks.”

Hamas’ new way of operating – and its continued supply of weapons, received via tunnels and aided by weapons captured from Israeli forces – could sustain its insurgency for months, said US officials.

Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s national security adviser said the war could last at least until the end of 2024.

Spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) told Reuters Hamas had lost roughly half of its fighting force, and said Israel’s military was adapting to the group’s shift in tactics.

He said: “There is never a goal to kill each and every last terrorist on the ground. That’s not a realistic goal.

“Destroying Hamas as a governing authority is an achievable and attainable military objective.”

Hamas’ sprawling 311-mile maze of tunnels is now covered in rubble caused by ongoing airstrikes, which experts say could aid militants in their ambushes and attacks.

The fighters are able to travel underground and pop up from under the rubble to strike Israeli forces.

Experts say the terrorists could also be using this advantage to withdraw deeper into Gaza City and lure Israelis into their “kill zones”.

But Hamas has employed sinister tactics since the beginning of the war, according to Israel, even using recordings of children screaming “save me!” to con IDF troops into death traps.

Insurgent tactics being used by Hamas

By Jessica Baker

HAMAS fighters are said to be avoiding sustained battles with Israeli forces as they close in on Rafah, instead relying on improvised bombs and ambushes to hit targets.

Israel claimed in December that Hamas was using recordings of children screaming to lure its troops into death traps.

In acts described as “psychological warfare” against Israeli soldiers, Israeli spokesman Avi Hyman said Hamas terrorists set up scenarios which would make Israeli troops think they had come across hostages.

They rigged buildings with devices which played sounds of children screaming, enticing soldiers to enter, then ambushed them, he said.

Israel’s military claimed terrorists had stuffed bombs into children’s backpacks and attached explosives to dead bodies so anyone who attempted to move those killed would be injured.

And rubble caused by ongoing airstrikes in the Gaza Strip was said by experts to have provided Hamas with a cover to hide its militants, snipers, and explosives.

The group’s 311-mile maze of tunnels allows them to cover vast amounts of ground and come up under rubble to attack, the experts said.

Former US Army Colonel Joe Buccino said Hamas was using the method to weaken the Israeli army’s advantages with its superior technology.

He said: “The IDF leadership understands that engaging in combat within densely populated urban areas and venturing underground will strip the Israeli military of most of its technological advantages, including advanced surveillance systems, sensors, and communications equipment.

“That would offer Hamas an edge both above and below ground.”

Israeli spokesman Avi Hyman told The Sun in December of the “psychological warfare” being waged by Hamas against Israel’s soldiers.

He said: “We’ve heard reports of them setting up scenarios by which the soldiers would think that there’s hostages in a specific area to then ambush them.

“So we’ve heard reports of them playing Israeli toddlers saying, ‘Save me! Save me’, you know, from within buildings that are booby trapped.”

Hyman claimed to have seen video evidence of “booby-trapped” children’s toys fixed with a device playing Israeli music and noises which could have come from young children.

Israeli forces said at the time that Hamas terrorists had planted a number of booby traps in kill zones, including a child’s pink backpack stuffed with a bomb.

Chilling footage showed an IDF soldier opening the rucksack to reveal an explosive device.

The military said: “The bag was booby-trapped, containing a remote-activated explosive device—weighing 7kg.

“Hamas purposefully chose to booby-trap a child’s backpack with the hope a well-intentioned civilian would pick it up.”

Israel’s defence forces further claimed Hamas had attached speakers playing noises which sounded like the cries of distressed children to baby dolls, and even fixed bombs to the bodies of dead Israelis.

Dina Zaslacski, a friend of killed Canadian-Israeli mother Adi Vital-Kaploun, said: “They put bombs all over her body, and her dad was in the house. Thank God he didn’t open the door.”

Mourners gather around the bodies of people killed in an Israeli airstrike at a UN school housing displaced Palestinians in Nuseirat on Thursday[/caption]