Israel: Half Of Hamas Fighters Have Been Killed Or Wounded

Israeli officials believe that the armed forces have killed or seriously wounded half of the fighters of the Islamist group Hamas, which the Jewish state has been at war with since the October 7 attack that killed 1,200 people.

The leadership's current assessment is that the end of the months-long offensive in the Gaza Strip will take months, not years, The Times of Israel reports.

The comments come ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is expected to arrive in Israel this week after talks with Arab monarchies in the Persian Gulf and Egypt.

Blinken was talking about a deal proposed by Egypt for a weeks-long humanitarian pause in exchange for the release of the remaining Hamas hostages in Gaza, which has sparked controversy both within the movement's ranks and among Israeli officials. On Tuesday, he landed in Cairo from Riyadh for talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, before returning to the Gulf to Qatar, a key intermediary for the relationship with Hamas.

The Times of Israel quoted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying "total victory" over Hamas, despite reports from military officials who warned that Hamas elements were returning to areas of northern Gaza where victory had been declared against the movement.

Earlier, the Israeli army announced that the 162nd Division had returned to the central and northern areas of Gaza City (in the north) and the Ash Shati camp, where fighting had been going on with Hamas for over two months.

"Our goal is total victory over Hamas," Netanyahu told a meeting of the Likud party group in the Knesset, the newspaper reported. "We will kill the leadership of Hamas, so we must continue to operate in all areas of the Gaza Strip. We shouldn't end the war before then." Just a few weeks ago, he told local leaders that he expected the war to continue into 2025.

According to him, Israel managed to destroy the network of tunnels of Hamas, an extensive underground complex with a length of hundreds of kilometers.

"We will not end the war without achieving the goal of total victory that will restore security. We will not surrender," said Benjamin Netanyahu.

Neither Netanyahu nor Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said how many Hamas fighters had been killed, although both said half had been neutralized. The latest estimate by the Israeli army was about 10,000 killed associated with the movement. According to some data, Hamas has about 30,000 fighters, although this number does not include the forces of other armed groups in Gaza.

According to Gaza health authorities, at least 27,585 Palestinians have been killed in the bombing and ground operation in Gaza since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack. Israel generally does not dispute the number, but says it includes extremists.

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