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Source: https://jcpa.org/a-turning-point-in-gaza-the-fall-of-hamas-begins/
The Fall of Hamas in Gaza Begins
(Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs) Oded Ailam - On Sep. 15, 2025, ordinary Gazans refused to obey Hamas. Instead, they listened to the IDF's evacuation instructions. Around 800,000 residents of northern Gaza gathered their belongings and walked south as instructed. Hamas tried to stop them with threats and violence, but failed. Since that day, Hamas has ceased to function as a unified military or governing force. What remains is a collection of scattered, semi-independent cells clinging to the remnants of a once-organized army. The IDF has systematically eliminated most of Hamas's senior and mid-level commanders, leaving the group without strategic leadership or coordination. The mass public executions of alleged collaborators in October 2025 was a show of desperation disguised as strength. As Hamas's power structure erodes, a political shift is emerging. Ten major clans across Gaza are cautiously but increasingly challenging Hamas's authority. None of these clans possess the military strength to overthrow Hamas on their own. Yet their existence as armed, organized communities with their own interests and leadership represents a serious crack in the system of fear and blind obedience that Hamas built over the years. The ceasefire violations are isolated acts by local commanders trying to prove that they still have power and relevance. There is no longer a unified military council or strategic command. What remains is inertia, a chaotic pattern of violence driven by habit rather than strategy. Hamas is at its weakest point since its creation. Its leadership has been eliminated or forced into hiding. Its military power is exhausted, its finances depleted, and its civilian support fading fast. Now is the time to dismantle what remains of its terror network, to remove Turkey and Qatar from the equation, and to secure American backing to prevent Hamas from ever rebuilding. Waiting for the usual cycle of diplomatic negotiations would mean wasting this opportunity and returning to a state of perpetual threat. The writer, former head of the Counterterrorism Division in the Mossad, is a researcher at the Jerusalem Center.