The Jerusalem Post reports that it and Channel 12 have gathered reports suggesting that Hamas is significantly rebuilding by recruiting new members. According to Channel 12 on Wednesday evening, Hamas, alongside Islamic Jihad, now counts between 20,000 and 23,000 fighters. Recent information obtained by The Post, however, suggests a smaller figure, closer to 12,000.
The disparity in these numbers is even more pronounced when compared to figures previously reported by the IDF or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The most recent public estimate stated that the IDF has killed between 17,000 and 20,000 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants during the ongoing conflict. Throughout the war, there has been a noticeable difference of a few thousand between the IDF and Netanyahu’s estimates, calling some of these numbers into question. In June, the IDF reported that between 14,000 and 16,000 Hamas fighters had been injured.
Additionally, The Post has learned that the IDF has detained over 6,000 Gazans during the war, with at least 4,300 still in custody and around 2,200 released as less dangerous. Initially, the IDF estimated Hamas’s full strength at 25,000, but these current figures raise doubts unless one assumes that Hamas has recruited nearly an entirely new fighting force, fully replacing its previous one. Another possibility is that, despite the IDF’s initial estimate of 25,000, earlier predictions placed the number of Hamas fighters at 30,000 or even up to 40,000. The Post was told that the more accurate number is likely closer to 40,000. This could mean that while a large portion of Hamas’s forces are still from its original fighters, they have certainly added many new recruits. June saw the first reports of Hamas rebuilding, especially after the IDF withdrew from northern Gaza in January and February, and then from Khan Yunis on April 7.
If Channel 12’s reporting is accurate, it suggests that about 9,000 Hamas fighters are stationed in both northern and southern Gaza, with Islamic Jihad contributing another 4,000 fighters. In addition, there are between 7,000 and 10,000 local, less organized fighters scattered across the Gaza Strip. These figures seem to contradict the IDF’s recent reports to The Post and others, indicating that much of northern Gaza has been cleared of militants. Alternatively, if Hamas’s total force is closer to 12,000, there might be more fighters concentrated in southern Gaza than in the north. Despite this, sources supporting Channel 12’s figures were consistent on Wednesday night. However, even Channel 12’s numbers reveal a significant range, which suggests that the IDF’s estimates may be limited, especially given the current situation where Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are packed into small humanitarian zones, making it difficult to distinguish between fighters and civilians. One source told The Post that, while the total numbers remain unclear, the quality of the new recruits Hamas is arming has diminished. Many of these new fighters are untrained minors.
{Matzav.com}
The actual meaning is very different than the wording.
Hamas’s “new recruitment” or “comeback” means one of two things (or a combination of both):
1) As Hamas runs out of adult males, they’re simply drafting their younger brothers, cousins, and nephews into the terror org. (Likewise, as the Nazis ran out of adult manpower toward the end of WWII, they inducted 14-year-old boys into the military.) It’s merely a continuation of the pro-terrorism conditioning the boys have already been receiving since birth.
2) Terrorists formerly associated with alternative terrorist orgs in Gaza (like Fatah, Islamic Jihad, etc.) have decided to switch to Hamas for perceived benefits.
Anyway, Hamas isn’t the only game in time, just the one currently with the most power.
Eliminate Hamas and one of the other terror orgs in Gaza will rise in its place.
How big is tiny Gaza that Hamas has so much power? It shouldn’t take more than a few hours to wipe them off the map for good.