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Hamas Has Been Shattered. Now It Is Fighting to Survive

(Financial Times-UK) Neri Zilber and Andrew England - In the Defense Minister's office at Israeli military headquarters in Tel Aviv, a large pyramid adorns the wall made up of images of Hamas' top ranks. The title: "Status of leadership assassinations." After five months of ferocious conflict in Gaza, those still alive greatly outnumber the mostly mid-ranking commanders whose fate is illustrated by an X across their faces. But the Xs on the pyramid are gradually spreading, just as Hamas' fighting options appear to be dwindling. The quasi-state in Gaza that Hamas used to rule is wrecked, its forces are decimated and its population is enduring a deepening humanitarian catastrophe. For Hamas, an Islamist militant group founded to destroy the Jewish state, victory now has largely narrowed to one thing: survival. "Does Hamas still exist militarily? Yes," said one senior Israeli military official. "Is it organized? No. The path to completely dismantling them goes on." Yezid Sayigh, a Beirut-based fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Hamas' predicament stemmed from its catastrophic miscalculation over the real balance of military power. The bloody Oct. 7 attacks laid bare the group's "delusion" that the cross-border raid would trigger uprisings against Israel across the Middle East - and thereby limit the war or tip the balance.
2024-03-14 00:00:00
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