Hamas is Shattered, But the Pieces are Organized to Fight On

A primary reason for the slow progress of the IDF is due to the dispersed nature of Hamas units, who are trained and equipped to operate in small units and independent of each other, if need be.

Hamas has suffered serious blows to its command structure and manpower since the war in Gaza started. The IDF and defense officials have estimated its dead at around 6,000 and possibly higher, to say nothing of the number of wounded.

Huge numbers of stores of weapons have been seized, command posts destroyed, and senior and midlevel commanders assassinated. Nevertheless, IDF progress in the north Gaza Hamas strongholds of Shejaiya and Jebaliya continues to be slow going and costly.

Mako News military correspondent Shai Levy explains that the reason for this is the way the Hamas military structure is set up. According to Levy, while Hamas has a midlevel and senior command structure, units are trained and equipped to operate in small units and even as individuals, independent of command. This can be seen in the way armaments are dispersed in thousands of places, something which would make little sense for larger units.

This means that while the IDF's achievements have hurt Hamas, it cannot be "broken" in the same way that a regular and larger military unit can, and instead needs to be slowly rooted out. Indeed, many members remain behind as the IDF advances and threaten more rear-based units.

This is the reason the IDF is cautious in its assessments of how long it will take to truly clear the Strip of Hamas fighters, speaking in terms of a month or two or more. They nevertheless do point to success so far in killing Hamas members and commanders as well as breaking through their planned defensive lines as reason for optimism.