Hamas is attempting to counter Israel’s war goal of wiping it out as a military and governing force in Gaza by instructing two battalions to stay out of the fighting, Kan News reported on Tuesday.
Sources in the Strip told the Israeli public broadcaster that the terror group was strategizing for its own “day after” scenario that would see these forces pave the path towards re-establishing control over the coastal enclave.
One battalion in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza and another one in Khan Yunis in the south were reportedly given orders not to participate in fighting as much as possible during the war, which entered its 256th day on Tuesday.
Per the report, the Khan Yunis battalion moved south to Rafah under civilian cover during the Israeli incursion there with terror operatives assimilating into the local populace. With the end of the Israeli military’s operations in Khan Yunis, the terrorists came back from Rafah.
Israel’s stated war goals are to destroy Hamas as a military and governing force in Gaza and to ensure that it can not threaten Israel. Returning all hostages taken into captivity by Hamas in its terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7 is another main objective.
The Israel Defense Forces have dismantled most of Hamas’s 24 battalions in Gaza during the course of the war, concentrating on the four in the last Hamas stronghold of Rafah since early May.
About half of Hamas’s battalions in Rafah have been dismantled during the current military operation there, the IDF said on Monday.
Out of the four Hamas battalions in Rafah before the IDF ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, two—Yabna (south) and east Rafah—have been almost completely dismantled, while the other two—Tel Sultan (west) and Shaboura (north)—have been moderately broken down as the army continues to fight in these two neighborhoods.
