Data released on
1 January estimates that the remaining fighters in Gaza are between 20,000 and
23,000, according to Israeli media, which contradicts previous figures released
by Israeli authorities.
This information
calls into question the numbers previously provided by the Israeli government
and army that placed the amount of Hamas fighters at 25,000 in October 2023.
The Israeli army
has claimed that up to 20,000 Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ)
fighters have been eliminated and 16,000 wounded. Despite the recruitment of
new fighters, initial Israeli army estimates conflict with emerging data on the
amount of remaining Hamas fighters.
Alternative
figures place the number of resistance fighters in the strip at 12,000, with
the majority located in the south.
The withdrawal
of Israeli forces from northern Gaza in January and February, and their
subsequent retreat from the southern city of Khan Yunis in April were among the
first reports of a Hamas recovery.
These events
came after Tel Aviv claimed that the Israeli army had “completed the
dismantling of Hamas’s military framework in the northern Gaza strip.”
In July 2024,
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that victory over Hamas was in
sight. Yet the dismantling of Hamas's military wing, the Qassam Brigades,
continues to evade Israel. Brian Carter, Middle East portfolio manager for
Critical Threats Project (CTP), commented to CNN, “they haven’t defeated these
fighters at all.”
According to the
Jerusalem Post, discrepancies between the figures released by Netanyahu's
office and the Israeli army have put into question the reported capabilities of
Hamas's remaining forces.
Preliminary
Israeli estimates were likely inaccurate, with the number of Hamas militants in
October 2023 closer to 40,000. The ongoing displacement and conflict further
impede Israel's ability to collect accurate data on the remaining fighters.
Netanyahu’s
promise to achieve “total victory” over Hamas by completely “eliminating” the
group has not yet been achieved. The continued operational abilities of Hamas’s
Qassam Brigades and the recent rise in the estimated number of active militants
indicate that Hamas is still functional.
Israeli
troops advanced into and heavily attacked the southern Lebanese village of Beit
Lif on 2 January, in violation of the fragile ceasefire that Tel Aviv has been
continuously breaching since it took effect in late November last year.
“The
Roumieh area between Beit Lif and Yater was subjected to enemy artillery
shelling,” Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported on Thursday afternoon,
coming as Israeli forces entered and searched homes in the area.
According
to Al Manar’s correspondent in the south, the Israeli army pushed into Beit Lif
with several Merkava tanks, military hummers, a bulldozer, and infantry forces
and began demolitions in the town. The sounds of heavy explosions and gunfire
were heard.
Earlier
on Thursday, an Israeli drone targeted the vicinity of a farm between the towns
of Beit Lif and Yater with two missiles.
The
new ceasefire violations occurred a day after the Israeli military set fire to
homes in the Aitaroun-Bint Jbeil district.
In
accordance with the ceasefire agreement, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF)
entered the towns of Shamaa and Al-Bayada on 1 January. The two towns are among
those that witnessed fierce clashes between the Lebanese resistance and the
Israeli army during Tel Aviv’s failed ground operation in Lebanon, which began
in early October and ended with the ceasefire on 27 November.
Al-Bayada
and Shamaa were also heavily bombarded throughout the war that began in October
last year.
NNA
reported massive destruction of infrastructure – with entire neighborhoods and
even the electricity network ravaged. “Everything was razed to the ground.”
Israel
has violated the ceasefire – which is based on the implementation of UN
Resolution 1701 – over 100 times since it took effect with deadly airstrikes,
arrests of Lebanese citizens, troop advancements, and mass detonation campaigns
in southern villages. Entire villages have been wiped out as a result of the
demolition campaign.
Tel
Aviv claims to be targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in the south, which the
LAF was tasked to dismantle as per the agreement.
Israeli
troops are required to withdraw from Lebanon within 60 days of the ceasefire’s
announcement. So far, it has been over four weeks, leaving less than a month
before the Israeli army must retreat, according to the agreement.
Security
sources in Lebanon told The Cradle on 23 December that the Israeli army is
unhappy with the LAF's efforts to implement the ceasefire and is planning to
maintain a presence in the south past the 60-day implementation period.
“Now
is the opportunity for the Lebanese state to prove itself through political
action,” Hezbollah’s Secretary-General Naim Qassem said in a speech on
Wednesday, echoing recent comments by the resistance group’s MPs and officials.
Hezbollah
officials have recently said that the current period represents a test for the
Lebanese state regarding whether or not it will be able to protect the south
from Israeli attacks and violations once the resistance is no longer present
south of the Litani River.
“If
the occupation takes any steps against Lebanon from the eastern front due to
its expansion in Syria, we will carry out our national duty … anyone who
believes that the resistance in Lebanon has weakened is deluded … We possess
the resources and intellect to be in a position to confront the occupation. On
the 61st day after the ceasefire, we will be in a position to make the Israeli
enemy taste our wrath,” Hezbollah MP Ihab Hamadeh told Al Mayadeen on
Wednesday.
Security forces
led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched search operations throughout Syria’s
central governorate of Homs on 2 January, targeting “war criminals” affiliated
with the former government’s armed forces, Syrian state media reported.
“The Ministry of
Interior, in cooperation with the Military Operations Department, begins a
wide-scale combing operation in the neighborhoods of Homs city,” state media
outlet SANA reported, citing a security official.
The official
added that the security forces are targeting “war criminals and those involved
in crimes who refused to hand over their weapons and go to the settlement
centers,” as well as “fugitives from justice, in addition to hidden ammunition
and weapons.”
“We ask our
civilian people to cooperate with our forces to find these criminals who keep
weapons and ammunition among you, and refuse to settle and hand over these
weapons,” the security official went on to say.
A curfew has
been imposed on several neighborhoods in Homs city. As security forces entered
and searched homes in Homs, residents told Sputnik that “fear and panic” have
overtaken the streets and that “heavy gunfire” is being heard.
The search
operations coincide with fierce clashes between Syria’s new authorities and
remnants of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA).
Ambushes and
attacks have recently targeted HTS patrols and positions in the western Latakia
and Tartous governorates and other areas across the country. SANA reported over
the weekend that former members of the SAA were refusing to hand over their
weapons, and that this was the reason operations were continuing.
The HTS-led
Military Operations Command in Syria has set up “reconciliation centers” for
former government personnel to surrender weapons and receive temporary IDs, but
reports indicate that numerous individuals have been abducted and found dead,
even after having given up their weapons.
The UK-based
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has documented at least 85 murder
crimes across Syria that have led to 144 fatalities in recent weeks.
While the new
government has vowed to protect minorities, there have been numerous instances
of attacks on Christian and Alawite holy sites and symbols. Executions of
Alawite civilians and former government soldiers have been widely reported.
A large number
of Christians are fleeing the ancient Christian town of Maaloula in
southwestern Syria, where Aramaic, the ancient language of Jesus, is still
spoken.
A new group
called the Syrian Resistance in Al-Sahel announced late last month that
massacres committed by the HTS-led “terrorist administration” will be met with
attacks on “elements and leaders” of the new government.
“We are still
waiting for the bloodshed to stop so that it is not said that we are the
instigators of sedition. We only want Syria to be Arab and independent, as it
was for all components of our people,” the group added.
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