FLASH
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The group is convinced that thousands of fighters can survive for months in the tunnels that lie deep under the Palestinian enclave and can prevent Israeli forces with guerrilla tactics...
The Palestinian militant group Hamas is preparing for a long war in the Gaza Strip and claims it can stop Israel's advance and force its arch-enemy to accept a ceasefire.
According to two sources, who spoke anonymously to Reuters, Hamas has been supplied with weapons, rockets, food and medical supplies. The group is convinced that thousands of fighters can survive for months in the tunnels that lie deep under the Palestinian enclave and can prevent Israeli forces with guerrilla tactics.
Hamas believes international pressure on Israel to end the siege, as civilian casualties mount, could force a ceasefire and a negotiated settlement that would see the militant group get what it wants, such as the release of thousands of prisoners. Palestinians in exchange for Israeli hostages, the sources said.
According to four Hamas officials, the group has made it clear to the US and Israel in the Qatari-brokered hostage release negotiations that it wants the prisoners released in exchange for the hostages.
Hamas has said it wants to end Israel's 17-year blockade of Gaza, as well as halt Israeli settlement expansion. On Thursday, UN experts called for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, saying Palestinians were at "grave risk of genocide". Many experts see a spiraling crisis, with no clear conclusion in sight for either side.
"The mission to destroy Hamas is not easily achieved," said Marwan Al-Muasher, Jordan's former foreign minister and deputy prime minister, who now works for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.
"There is no military solution to this conflict. We are in some dark times. This war will not be short," he added.
The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 9,000, with daily violent protests being sparked around the world over the plight of more than 2 million Gazans trapped in the tiny enclave, where many are without water, food or power. Israeli airstrikes hit a refugee camp in Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least 50 Palestinians and a Hamas commander.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to eradicate Hamas and has rejected calls for a ceasefire. Israeli officials accuse the militants of hiding behind civilians.
The country is preparing for a "long and painful war," said Danny Danon, a former Israeli ambassador to the UN and former member of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
"We know in the end that we will triumph and that we will defeat Hamas," he told Reuters. "The issue is going to be the price, and we have to be very careful and very careful and understand that it's a very complex urban area to maneuver," he added.
The United States has said now is not the time for a general ceasefire, although it says pauses in hostilities are needed to provide humanitarian aid.
Washington expects Hamas to try to hit Israeli forces in Gaza and cause enough military casualties to weaken Israeli public support for a protracted conflict, a US source said.
Israeli officials have nonetheless stressed to their American counterparts that they are prepared to confront Hamas' guerrilla tactics as well as resist international criticism of their offensive, according to the person. Whether the country has the ability to eliminate Hamas or simply severely degrade the organization remains an open question, the source added.
Hamas has about 40,000 fighters, according to sources in the group. They can move around the enclave using an extensive network of fortified tunnels, hundreds of kilometers long and up to 80 meters deep, built over many years.
Hamas has fought a series of wars with Israel in recent decades, and Ali Baraka, the Beirut-based head of Hamas' Foreign Affairs, said it had gradually improved its military capabilities, especially its rockets. In the 2008 Gaza war, Hamas rockets had a maximum range of 40 km (25 miles), but this had increased to 230 km by the 2021 conflict, he added.
"In every war, we surprise the Israelis with something new," Baraka told Reuters.
An official close to the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah movement, which is an ally of Hamas, said the Palestinian militant group's fighting strength remained largely intact after weeks of bombing. Hezbollah has a joint military operations room in Lebanon with Hamas and other allied factions in a regional network backed by Iran, according to Hezbollah and Hamas officials. / Adapted "Pamphlet" from " Reuters "
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