IDF claims it has eliminated over 17,000 terrorists in Gaza since Oct 7

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The Israel military has eliminated more than 17,000 terrorists belonging to Hamas and other Gazan factions since Oct. 7, the IDF’s spokesman Daniel Hagari announced on Thursday.

The Gaza Health Ministry, run by the Hamas terrorist organization, recently claimed that some 40,000 Gazans have been killed after more than 10 months of war. However, Hamas does not distinguish between civilians and armed terrorists. If the Hamas figure is accurate, it would mean that roughly half of the Gazan fatalities are armed terrorists.

Israel Defense Forces has also succeeded in eliminating much of Hamas’ top leadership, including former military commander Mohammed Deif, his deputy Marwan Issa and the former political leader Ismail Haniyeh. However, Hamas’ top leader, Yahya Sinwar, is still believed to be hiding somewhere in the vast underground tunnel network beneath Gaza.

During the press conference, Hagari said the IDF's “significant fighting” has dramatically downgraded Hamas’ capabilities to regroup and rearm. “We are determined to continue this,” he vowed.

The Israeli military is currently focused on locating Hamas operatives and dismantling any remaining Hamas infrastructure in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

On Thursday, the IDF announced that it had identified and neutralized about 50 tunnels along the strategically important Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the border between Egypt and Gaza. These border tunnels have played a crucial role in Hamas’ effort to smuggle new weapons and various goods into the coastal enclave. In recent days, IDF troops have also eliminated about 100 terrorists in the Rafah area, near the Egyptian border.

The IDF's 98th Division targeted Hamas terrorists around the Khan Younis area, which used to be a significant Hamas stronghold. While mediators are working to secure a Gaza ceasefire deal at a high-level summit in Doha, Qatar, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck more than 30 additional Hamas sites, tunnels and booby-trapped buildings across the Gaza Strip.

Unnamed senior U.S. officials recently admitted in a New York Times article that the Israeli military had dramatically downgraded the Hamas terrorist group's ability to pose a threat to the Jewish state. However, the unnamed Biden administration officials claimed that Israel would not be able to dismantle Hamas entirely.

Former British army officer Andrew Fox recently offered a different perspective on the fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. In an article in the Tablet Magazine titled, "The IDF’s boot is Hamas’s throat," Fox argued that Israel is currently winning the war against Hamas. Fox also noted that the Israeli military’s strategy differs from conventional Western military strategies.

“The IDF’s way of war is not the West’s way of war. It is not designed to carry out protracted campaigns of attrition. It is a raiding army,” Fox assessed. He noted that the Israeli military has had impressive achievements against Hamas by eliminating over 17,000 terrorists including many top terrorist commanders.

“In less than 10 months, this is an impressive achievement by the IDF, given the remarkable built-in defensive capabilities of Hamas. Finishing the job will take longer still,” Fox wrote.

He concluded that only pressure from the U.S. on Israel would prevent the IDF from dismantling Hamas.

“The only thing that can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, and ensure the survival of the Iranian-backed Palestinian terrorist group on Israel’s border, is Washington,” Fox wrote.