HAMAS THE INVINCIBLE?

June 7 marks exactly eight months since the Hamas attack on Israel. Eight months into the bloody conflict between one of the most experienced and technically equipped armies in the world and one of the dozens of religiously and ideologically astute armed groups in the Middle East.

The Israeli army is now conducting a ground operation in the town of Rafah on the southern outskirts of the Gaza Strip. Army units encircle the part of the city that lies between Egypt and the Gaza Strip. The entry of the Israeli army into Rafah is formally considered the establishment of Israeli control over the Strip. However, areas within the territory remain not under Israeli control.

In other words, since then, the Israeli army has failed to defeat Hamas on 365 square kilometres of territory and ensure complete control of the strip. Indeed, Israel has announced that 19 of the group's 24 battalions have been destroyed. But in the nearly two months since that declaration, Hamas has continued to resist. And even periodically fires rockets into Israeli territory.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army command promised to end hostilities in the Gaza Strip within three months. In early January, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Galant announced the withdrawal of army forces from northern Gaza. But a few weeks later, they had to re-enter the towns of Jibalia, Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya, and Gaza to combat Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants.

Today, Israel's 180,000-strong army faces an even larger Hamas force of 300,000 reservists drafted immediately after the group's October assault on the Jewish state. However, the geographical conditions and small territory of Gaza make it challenging for such a large force to manoeuvre in the Strip.

The power of Hamas

The media lack detailed information on the military strength of Hamas. According to some reports, the number of armed fighters of the group reaches 30,000, and according to others - 40,000. The military wing of Hamas is better known as the Izzaddin al-Qassam Brigades, or simply Al-Qassam. It is named after the Syrian cleric Izzaddin al-Qassam, who in the 1930s revolted against Jewish armed groups and the British colonial administration.

Before Hamas, the armed groups Majd and the Palestinian Mujahideen operated in Gaza under the auspices of the Muslim Brotherhood. Al-Qassam, however, surpasses them both quantitatively and organisationally.

Unlike their associates in earlier Palestinian militias, also known for their Marxist and leftist views, al-Qassam fighters operate solely within Palestine.

The founders of the military wing of Hamas, Yahya Ayyash, Nizar Rayyan, Saleh Shahadah, Ahmad Jabiri, as well as several other commanders, were killed by the Israeli army. Muhammad Dhaif and his deputy, Marwan Isa, currently oversee operations in Gaza.

The Al-Qassam Army consists of six brigades and several branches of the military. Hamas is an Islamist, ideologically astute organisation. Its members receive rigorous religious and political-ideological training. Initially, the group used light weapons. In recent years, however, it has begun to produce and use short-range missiles. It has engineering and fortification (tunnelling), air defence, artillery, suicide bombers, and logistics units. Additionally, the armed wing of Hamas has special operations and cybersecurity units.

Hamas fired its first Qassam 1 rocket at the Israeli settlement of Sderot on October 26, 2001. The Qassam-1 later became a symbol of Palestinian armed groups.

In 2002, the organisation launched a relatively modified version of the Qassam-2 missile into Israel. This was followed by the production of the Qassam-3 and Qassam-4. In 2003, Hamas launched the M-75 rocket with a range of 75 kilometres, followed by the R-160 (160 kilometres) and the J-180 (180 kilometres). In addition, Hamas has Iranian-made Fajr-5 and Grad missiles.

Incidentally, Israel's Iron Dome air defence system was designed precisely to counter strikes by Hamas's growing missile capability.

In 2021, Hamas announced the development of the Ababeel drone.

The organisation's military power was further bolstered when full control of the Gaza Strip passed from Fatah to Hamas in 2007. Thus, while in 2008 the average range of Hamas rockets was 40 kilometres, in 2021 it increased to 230 kilometres.

Hamas is believed to bring military equipment and technology to Rafah that it has purchased through intermediaries in countries in the region. From there, the equipment is transported through Egyptian territory and tunnels dug in Rafah.

Since seizing power in Gaza and bolstering its own military power, Hamas has engaged with the Israeli army several times (2008, 2014, 2021, and 2023), which has been a valuable experience for the organisation.

Reasons for Hamas's resilience

Experts attribute Hamas' continued resistance to the superior Israeli army to several factors.

They are led by guerrilla warfare. The history of world wars has only a few success stories of regular armies against guerrilla units. The Hamas fight against the Israeli army involves small guerrilla units. Using the well-known tactic of "hit-and-run," the guerrillas launch surprise attacks and deliver unexpected heavy blows to the Israelis. They then conceal themselves in tunnels and shelters they have been preparing for years in Gaza's cities, where more than 70 per cent of the buildings have now been destroyed.

Secondly, the Gaza Strip is a small but densely populated area of only 365 square kilometres. Hamas militants are intimately familiar with the area, thanks to years of building defence lines with long tunnels and other technical means. In contrast, the Israeli military, despite having advanced intelligence technology, is less acquainted with the region. Moreover, the destruction of most of the buildings in the Gaza Strip as a result of bombardment creates favourable conditions for concealing militants and poses significant challenges for Israeli soldiers.

Thirdly, Hamas members who take refuge in underground shelters have nowhere to go. Naturally, they have a reduced chance of surviving the powerful onslaught of Israeli airstrikes, but thanks to years of ideological training, they fight with selfless dedication. The same cannot be said of the Israelis, for whom this war is exhausting and life-threatening. Understandably, they yearn to return to a comfortable life after prolonged compulsory military service.

Finally, the most significant "teacher" of Hamas is Israel itself. Over the past seventeen years, its fighters and commanders have been directly involved in four major wars and dozens of minor skirmishes and operations against the Jewish state. A great opportunity to gain practical experience. In general, Palestinian Islamists have been "learning" how to wage war against the Israeli army for 37 years.

It is primarily the four factors listed above that explain the continued resistance and endurance of Hamas.

What's next?

Israel's greatest concern today is that the course of the conflict in the Gaza Strip could evolve into a guerrilla war that could persist for years. Jost Hilterman, director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at the International Crisis Group, informed the media that Hamas has expanded its reach across the Gaza Strip and is far from defeated. And this once again confirms that the group has been preparing for this conflict for a long time, realising that it could extend for many years.

According to Tamir Heyman, former director of Israel's military intelligence agency Aman, even if terrorist and armed attacks against the Israeli army were thwarted, it would be impossible to dismantle the social structure and the strong bonds of Islamic brotherhood, ideological and religious elements within Hamas.

Al-Qassam is not merely an armed resistance group, but a fundamental component of a political Islamist movement with a profound political-ideological framework and bastions in the regions adjacent to Palestine. It is exceedingly challenging to dismantle such groups through military might alone.

Israel's persistent occupation policy and the unresolved Palestinian issue are the principal elements nurturing and fortifying Hamas. In essence, until the enduring Palestinian conflict is settled, Palestine will persist as a conducive environment for the birth and expansion of armed factions akin to Hamas. Consequently, the paramount strategy to counter such extremist groups is to forge enduring peace in the region. Only then will their necessity diminish. Otherwise, conflicts and hostilities could spawn new militant entities even more formidable than Hamas."