Hamas Recruiting New Forces, Numbers Show Substantial Comeback
Both The Jerusalem Post and Channel 12 have received information indicating that Hamas is making a significant comeback by recruiting new forces. According to Channel 12, Hamas has between 20,000-23,000 fighters, while The Post has learned numbers closer to 12,000.
The wild fluctuation in numbers becomes even more stark when compared to previous numbers put out by the IDF or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The latest numbers publicized were that the IDF has killed between 17,000-20,000 Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists over the course of the war.
There has been a gulf of a few thousand between the IDF and Netanyahu throughout the war, drawing some of the estimates into question. In June, the IDF said that already between 14,000-16,000 Hamas fighters had been wounded.
Further, The Post has learned that over 6,000 Gazans have been detained by the IDF during the war, with at least 4,300 remaining in custody and at most 2,200 being returned to Gaza as less dangerous.
Given that at the start of the war, the IDF said Hamas’s full forces were 25,000, the numbers do not come close to adding up unless one takes into account that Hamas has recruited almost an entirely new force, fully replacing its old force. Alternatively, the numbers could suggest that despite IDF estimates at the start of the war of a Hamas force of 25,000, earlier estimates before the war started estimated numbers of 30,000 or even up to 40,000.
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