Hamas, survival struggle in the Gaza strip. Disclosures about the desperate situation of the group

Confronted with the deficit of commanders, deprived of his extended network of tunnels and insecurely by the support of his ally, Iran, the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas struggles to survive in the Gaza strip. Assaulted from several directions – Rebered Local clans supported by Israel and Israeli military pressure, Hamas fighters operate autonomously under the order to resist as much as possible, but maintaining control, reports Reuters, citing sources close to the movement.

Hamas fighter during the February Armistice PHOTO EPA-EFE

Against the backdrop of a humanitarian crisis and international pressures for an armistice, Hamas urgently needs a break, a source said.

It would give a break to the inhabitants of Gaza, who are becoming more and more critical of Hamas, allowing the Islamist group to crush the rebel elements, including some clans and predators who stole humanitarian aid, said the person.

To counteract the immediate threat, Hamas sent some of his top fighters to kill one of the rebel leaders, Yasser Abu Shabab, but so far he has remained inaccessible in the Rafah area, controlled by Israeli troops, according to two Hamas sources and two other sources.

16 sources – people close to Hamas, sources in the field of Israeli security and diplomats – have outlined for Reuters the image of an extremely weak group, which for now retains some influence and operational capacity in Gaza, but faces great challenges.

The group is still capable of limited attacks – killing seven Israeli soldiers this week in the south of the gas – but the information services assessments have shown that it has lost its order and control, three diplomats from the Middle East reveal.

Losses suffered by the Hamas group

According to an Israeli military official, about 20,000 Hamas fighters were killed, while hundreds of kilometers of tunnels were destroyed or made unusable as a result of Israeli bombing. In addition, much of the gas was transformed into rubble.

Sources in the field of Israeli Security have said that the average age of Hamas fighters “decreases as day goes by”, and the group now recruits hundreds of thousands of poor, unemployed and relocated young people.

“They are hidden because they are instantly hit by airplanes, but they appear here and there, organizing queues in front of bakeries, protecting the aid trucks or punishing the criminals,” says Essam, 57 years old, construction worker in Gaza.

“I am no longer like before the war, but it exists.”

Asked to comment on this information High Official Hamas, Sami Abu Zuhri, said the group is working to obtain a war with Israel, but “teaching is not an option.”

Hamas has remained engaged in negotiations and is “ready to release all the prisoners immediately,” he said, referring to the Israeli hostages who have remained alive, but asks for massacres to cease and Israel to retreat.

A shadow of the group that attacked Israel in 2023

The Israel's offensive has killed over 56,000 people, according to Gaza sanitary authorities, who do not distinguish between civilians and members of Hamas.

The damages caused by Israel do not compare to anything Hamas suffered since its establishment, most of his high -ranking commanders in Gaza being killed. Founded in 1987, Hamas prevailed as the main rival of the Fatah face -led by President Mahmoud Abbas and eventually took control of Gaza in 2007.

Currently, after 20 months of conflict and the recently mediated armistice in the war between Iran and Israel, his attention turned to Gaza and the possibility of an agreement that could end the conflict and release the remaining hostages.

One of the people close to Hamas told Reuters that the group would appreciate an armistice, even for a few months, to deal with local clans that gain influence.

But the terms of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the end of the war – including the condition of leaving Gaza – would be equivalent to a total defeat, and the group says it will never be taught.

“We keep our faith, but in reality things do not look good,” said the source.

According to Yezid Sayigh, a researcher at the Carnegie Center for the Middle East in Beirut, Hamas is now trying to survive. – It is not just about the challenge to resist physically and military, as well as the political survival.

“It risks being eliminated on the ground in Gaza if the war does not stop, but also be eliminated from any government formula that will end the war in Gaza,” he commented for Reuters.

The problem of Palestinian tribes

Israel has publicly acknowledged that I am part of Israel's strategy to counteract Hamas. Netanyahu said in this regard that Israel armed clans that oppose Hamas, without calling them.

Among the most important was highlighted Abu Shabab, a Palestinian Beduin operating in the Rafah area, under Israeli control.

Hamas accuses him of collaborating with Israel and planning some attacks on the Islamist group and wants to capture it, Hamas sources told Reuters.

Abu Shabab controls the east of Rafah, but it is believed that his group has freedom of movement in the extended area of ​​Rafah. The images on the Facebook page show armed people coordinating the entry of aid trucks through the Kerem Shalom crossing point.

The group's ads indicate efforts to build an independent administration in the area, although they deny that they would try to become a government authority. For example, they appealed to the inhabitants of Rafah, now in other areas of Gaza, to return home, promising food and shelter.

In response to Reuters questions, Abu Shabab's group denied that he received support from Israel would have contacts with the Israeli army, describing himself as a popular force that protects the humanitarian aid by escorting aid trucks.

But he accuses Hamas of violence and the drowning of dissent.

A Hamas official said that Palestinian security services “will hit with an iron hand to uproot the gangs of the collaborator Yasser Abu Shabab”, warning that they will not show mercy or hesitation in the face of “effort to create chaos and commit wrong.”

But there are also clans in Gaza who are not in conflict with Hamas.

On Thursday, a tribal alliance said that his people had protected the supporters of robbers in the northern gase. Near Hamas sources said the group approved the involvement of the Alliance.

Instead, Israel accuses that Hamas fighters actually demanded the trucks.

The impact of the Iran-Israel war

In the opinion of the Palestinian analyst Akram Attallah the appearance of a leader like Abu Shabab is a consequence of the weakness of Hamas, although he says it is expected to eventually fail, because Palestinians generally reject any sign of collaboration with Israel.

However, no matter how small Abu Shabab's group is, the fact that Hamas has an enemy of the same culture is dangerous, he said. “There is a threat until the problem is solved.”

On the other hand, the bombing campaign of Israel against Iran amplified the uncertainties that Hamas faces. The support of Tehran for Hamas has played an important role in the development of his armed wing in a force capable of launching deep missiles in Israel.

Although Iran and Israel claimed Victoria, Netanyahu suggested that the Israeli campaign against Tehran strengthened the influence in Gaza, saying that this “will help us accelerate our victory and release all hostages.”

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that there are significant progress on the Gaza strip, adding that the attack on Iran will help to release the hostages.

A Palestinian official close to Hamas said the group weighs the risk of diminishing Iranian support, anticipating that “the impact will be on the form of financing and expert Iran has used to support resistance and Hamas.”

One of the targets of Israel's campaign in Iran was an officer of the revolutionary guards who supervised the coordination with Hamas. Israel said that Saeed Izadi, whose death was announced on Saturday, was the motor force behind the Iran-Hamas axis.

Hamas transmitted Iran on Thursday, appointing Izadi a direct friend responsible for “conducting Palestinian resistance”.

A source of a group supported by Iran in the region said that Izadi has contributed to the development of Hamas capacities, including how to execute complex attacks, including rocket launches, infiltration operations and drones.

Asked about how the Israeli campaign against Iran could affect Hamas's support, Abu Zuhri said Iran is a big and powerful country, which will not be defeated.