Hamas could regain power in Gaza without ‘clear plan’ from Israel

According to Haaretz, the IDF unofficially claimed that the absence of a clear diplomatic process in conjunction with the fighting and the lack of defined objectives are affecting the military achievements of the war, which has led to the deaths of over 30,000 in Gaza, according to Hamas figures. 

Israel claims to have killed over 14,000 Hamas fighters.

Palestinian sources in Gaza told Haaretz that Hamas and other factions are trying to intensify the fighting in the northern part of the Strip and in Gaza City in particular through guerrilla tactics, undermining Israel’s efforts to drive the forces south and eliminate the last remaining battalions.

In addition to Jabalya, the IDF said on Sunday it is continuing to operate in the Zeitoun area in northern Gaza as Hamas spreads back to the strip’s north, regrouping months after the IDF claimed to have dismantled the Hamas presence there.

A statement said “over the past day, IDF troops eliminated a number of terrorists in close-quarters combat” in Zeitoun, in addition to air strikes targeting terrorist cells and terror infrastructure, which it says “were dismantled”.

US-led peace talks with Egypt and Qatar as mediators, have so far failed, leading to the longest Gaza war since Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007.

The US is offering Israel key intelligence to locate Hamas’s leaders hidden underground in a bid to prevent a full scale invasion of Rafah, it emerged on Sunday.

Israel also opened the Erez Crossing in the northern Gaza strip on Sunday to allow the flow of more humanitarian aid as it battles global pressure to avert a humanitarian crisis amid the war.