Progress Update: Signs Point to Hamas in Gaza Collapsing

On Sunday, Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement that Hamas in Gaza may be “collapsing from within.”

This from redstate.com.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Sunday that senior Hamas operatives captured by troops in the Gaza Strip have told interrogators “the group is collapsing from within.”

Following an assessment at the 98th Division’s headquarters, Gallant said:

In the last week or two, hundreds of terrorists have been captured and what they say about what happened to them tells the whole story.

They say that Hamas is collapsing from within, the price they are paying is very heavy.

Referring to the date of Palestinian terror group Hamas’s massive attack on Israel that started the ongoing war, Gallant continued:

We’re going to eliminate everyone who was involved in the events of October 7, the junior [officials], the senior ones and the very senior ones; those who were inside [Israel] or who gave instructions.

Further:

[T]he Israel Defense Forces will continue fighting until they reach all terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

This would seem to be a data point indicating things are heading in that direction.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been making bad Hamas terrorists into good Hamas terrorists since shortly after the Oct. 7th massacre last year, so it’s expected that Hamas will reach a breaking point.

The IDF Nahal Brigade’s reconnaissance unit has uncovered caches of weapons and eliminated two more senior Hamas operatives.

The Nahal Brigade’s reconnaissance unit found weapons, including mortars, explosive devices, sniper rifles, assault rifles, handguns and other military equipment hidden inside patient pillows and beds, and in the dropped ceilings and walls of the building, according to the IDF.

Some 350 patients and medical staff at Shifa Hospital were evacuated by the IDF to a ‘designated compound’ in another part of the complex, where the military has provided them with humanitarian aid and supplies.

The reconnaissance unit also encountered and killed senior Hamas operatives Fadi Dweik and Zakaria Najib during a chase and exchange of fire in the maternity ward last week.

Israel has, in the past, exchanged Hamas or other terror group prisoners at a wildly disproportionate rate to get their people back, and that’s understandable.

Hamas still holds over a hundred Israeli hostages and has refused repeated offers for exchanges.

[T]his can’t help but present the impression that these hostages may no longer be in any condition to be exchanged. That’s a horrible thought, but it’s one that Israel will have to confront, especially when considering any possible exchange.

From a purely strategic standpoint, intelligence like this tells the IDF precisely what to hit.

[I]f the intelligence is accurate and the regular Hamas operatives are suffering from a morale crisis (having a bunch of your buddies forcibly canceled can have that effect), that’s just the time to keep up the pressure.

International pressure for a cease-fire notwithstanding, “this is not the time for the IDF to stop revoking Hamas members’ birth certificates.”

And if Hamas’s leadership continues to press for a Palestinian state, point them towards Jordan and tell them to start walking.

God speed to the IDF.