Israeli analyst declares army surprised by Hamas’ power

(MENAFN) Israeli military analyst Yoav Zitun, in an article published on Sunday, mentioned that the Israeli army has come to the realization that eradicating Hamas in the Gaza Strip will be a process extending over several months.

Even though the Israeli military had wished to dethrone Hamas, which had led the Gaza Strip since the summer of 2007, “on the ground, the army is amazed every day by how strong Hamas is. It is a real army (...) that was established 50 minutes from Tel Aviv over the past years,” Zitun mentioned in an article published by an Israeli news outlet.

He stated that the military capabilities of the movement confirm its long-standing resistance to Israel's occupation of Palestine for decades.

In his article, Zitun noted that the United States had reportedly set a deadline for Israel to conclude the war in Gaza "by the end of December or January." However, this information was denied by Washington on Friday.

Pointing out Hamas' capabilities in facing the Israeli army, Zitun declared: "They have hundreds of thousands of weapons, including RPG shells of various types, which are considered their main weapon. They also have advanced rocket launchers, explosive drones, and attack drones that were produced as a copy of the Israeli Army’s Sky Rider drone, which fell in the Gaza Strip in the past decade."

As stated by Zitun, "Hamas fighters also have machine guns, Kalashnikov rifles, Dragunov sniper rifles, advanced communications devices, explosive devices of different standards and sizes (..) and countless amounts of weapons and military capabilities."

In reference to Israel's entrance into the northern Gaza Strip, Zitun commented: "The fierce battles in Beit Hanoun could indicate that clearing Gaza of the enemy will take many months." Even though Hanoun is not the strongest Hamas stronghold, the analyst believed.

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