As the battle rages on between Israeli forces and Hamas militants, recent reports put the number of Hamas causalities at around 1,500. With such a staggering number, many have begun to question how many fighters Hamas has at their disposal and what future invasions could look like.
Israel is in the midst of an intense battle with Hamas, a militant group based in Gaza. On Tuesday, October 10, Israeli soldiers were seen going door-to-door to secure a kibbutz close to the border with Gaza after it was overrun, and the bodies of 1,500 dead Hamas fighters were found inside Israel’s borders.
Oh god this footage has broken my heart ????…
Prime minister Netanyahu just Wipe them out the Islamic terrorist from the ROOT…#INDIA IS WITH #ISRAEL IN THIS WAR….????????????????????????#Israel_under_attack pic.twitter.com/NWoymxC174— D Naman Anand???????? (@d_naman_) October 9, 2023
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that this conflict will be fought with “mighty vengeance,” and airstrikes alone are unlikely to be effective against Hamas’ military capabilities. In response, 360,000 reservists have been called up to join the standing army of some 170,000 as preparations for a potential ground offensive continue.
As such, it seems increasingly likely that some form of ground attack is inevitable if Israel wishes to eliminate Hamas’ military capabilities.
LIVE: October 9, 2023…. A Head Cam footage of IDF Police taking down 2 Hamas members in Sderot, Israel.#StopWar #War #Israel #Palestine #fyp #fypシ #Live pic.twitter.com/rzBJ1FtsBJ
— The Boy Warrior (@The_Boy_Warrior) October 10, 2023
It is not clear exactly how many people comprise Hamas’ fighting force – estimates vary widely from 3,000 to 5,000 elite commandos in its Nakba unit up to 30,000 overall fighters according to one unnamed senior Israeli commander quoted by The Times of Israel in 2021.
Additionally it is difficult to determine who counts as a fighter since there could be those who hold guns but have received no training or those who have received more advanced instruction. All this means that even if a ground offensive does take place it may not achieve its stated objective of destroying all or most of Hamas’ military capability due simply to lack of knowledge regarding their strength and composition.
Some war footage of a #israel soldier hiding in a tank when #Palestine Resistance attacked their base.#Hamas #AlAqsaStorm #AlAqsaFlood #IsraelPalestinewar pic.twitter.com/0gNrPwdv0P
— ????????22Bahman (@22_bahman) October 10, 2023
If an invasion does happen then we can expect scenes similar to 2014 which lasted 50 days at tremendous cost both for the Israeli army and Palestinians. The situation might become particularly complicated due to the hostages currently held by militants – should they be located amongst dense tunnels and bunkers this rescue mission will prove extremely difficult.