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Has Hamas Partially Restored Capabilities in Northern Gaza?

Smoke rises following Israeli strikes, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Jabalia refugee camp northern Gaza Strip, May 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo

JNS.orgAccording to a report published by Israel’s Channel 12 News on Tuesday, Israeli security officials have identified disturbing signs of renewed Hamas activity in the northern Gaza Strip. This resurgence, characterized by the recruitment of approximately 3,000 new terrorist operatives, is fueling concerns that the terrorist organization is rapidly rebuilding its operational capabilities in the northern Strip, according to the report.

These new recruits are said to be being supplied with weapons and ammunition, and to be receiving payment for their involvement in Hamas activities. In response to these developments, Israeli defense officials are reportedly contemplating a large-scale re-entry into northern Gaza.

According to Col. (ret.) Jacques Neriah, an analyst at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs and a former Israeli Military Intelligence deputy head for assessment, the report is credible, but at the same time somewhat misleading.

“Hamas is succeeding in recruiting new fighters, but they are of much lower quality,” he told JNS. In the absence of a political plan for the future of the enclave, he argued, such activity was inevitable.

“As long as the [Israeli] political echelon has not decided what to do with Gaza, the IDF will be left with two options: permanent occupation and the imposition of military governance, or intermittent, on-and-off operations” to prevent the terrorist group from rebuilding itself, he said.

During the initial weeks of the conflict, the Israel Defense Forces deployed a large number of ground forces in northern Gaza, with Gaza City being identified as Hamas’s operational center of gravity. The ground maneuver, launched on Oct. 27, involved the deployment of armored, infantry and engineering units, all with substantial air support. These operations severely degraded Hamas’s operational capacity and disbanded its organized territorial units in the area.

However, the IDF has since moved to a less intensive phase of combat, with the primary focus being on southern Gaza.

Professor Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy and the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, said that while Hamas was rebuilding its forces to some extent, it was “certainly” not replacing what it had lost.

“It still cannot function in an organized military formation. It is making efforts to recruit youths to fill the ranks, but it does not have the ability to train them, so this is a limited achievement. They are mainly turning into cannon fodder,” he said.

Michael went on to say that Hamas’s more substantial gains have actually been in the civilian domain, through the takeover of humanitarian aid distribution.

However, he added, “There is no doubt that it will continue to make an effort to recover [in northern Gaza], including militarily, and its achievements will be more significant if Israel is not there in the form of a fixed military presence, a military administration.” A general siege on the area until the remainder of Hamas’s remaining organized forces is destroyed is also needed, he said.

“The alternative is to go in under the framework of targeted raids, once in a while, according to intelligence, and to exit. Hamas will then try to once again reorganize,” he added.

A military administration, Michael argued, would be aimed at ensuring full Israeli control over aid distribution in order to help break Hamas’s control over Gaza’s civilian population.

As it would require a constant military presence on the ground, an Israeli military administration would also make it “very difficult” for Hamas to reorganize militarily, he said.

“The military presence will create a continuous friction, which will generate more intelligence and more operational opportunities to severely harm Hamas,” he argued. A military administration will also enable the development of conditions for a civilian government alternative to Hamas, he added. “Such an alternative cannot exist and no element will be willing or able to enter Gaza so long as Hamas remains there with significant military capabilities,” he said. “The IDF is the only element in the world that can disband Hamas.”

The post Has Hamas Partially Restored Capabilities in Northern Gaza? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israel Receives Shipment of Heavy Bombs Cleared by Trump

US President Donald Trump looks on as he signs an executive order in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, Jan. 31, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Israel has received a shipment of heavy MK-84 bombs from the United States, after US President Donald Trump lifted a block imposed on the export of the munitions by the administration of predecessor Joe Biden, the defense ministry said on Sunday.

The MK-84 is an unguided 2,000 pound bomb, which can rip through thick concrete and metal, creating a wide blast radius.

The Biden administration declined to clear them for export to Israel out of concern about the impact on densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.

The Biden administration sent thousands of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas terrorists from Gaza but later held up one of the shipments. The hold was lifted by Trump last month.

“The munitions shipment that arrived in Israel tonight, released by the Trump Administration, represents a significant asset for the Air Force and the IDF and serves as further evidence of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said late on Saturday.

The shipment arrived after days of concern about whether a fragile ceasefire in Gaza agreed last month would hold, after both sides accused each other of violating the terms of the deal to halt fighting to allow the exchange of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails.

Washington has announced assistance for Israel worth billions of dollars since the war began.

The post Israel Receives Shipment of Heavy Bombs Cleared by Trump first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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US Mideast Envoy Says Phase Two Gaza Talks to Continue This Week

US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that talks on phase two of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian terrorists Hamas would continue this week “at a location to be determined” to figure out how to reach a successful conclusion.

He told Fox News that he had “very productive and constructive” calls on Sunday with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt’s director of intelligence.

Witkoff said they spoke about “the sequencing of phase two, setting forth positions on both sides, so we can understand… where we are today, and then continuing talks this week at a location to be determined so that we can figure out how we get to the end of phase two successfully.”

The post US Mideast Envoy Says Phase Two Gaza Talks to Continue This Week first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Arab States to Reveal 5-Year Plan to Rebuild Gaza: No Hamas or Relocation

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the Arab summit in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, May 31, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/Hamad l Mohammed/File Photo.

i24 NewsArab countries will unveil their plan for the reconstruction of Gaza on February 27 in Cairo. This initiative, developed by the Palestinians and handed over to the Egyptians for implementation, will be presented to the leaders of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. The plan provides for reconstruction over three to five years, without the displacement of the Palestinian population and without Hamas control. The funding, estimated at several hundred million dollars, will come from Gulf countries. The work will be carried out by Egyptian companies, representing a significant source of income for Egypt, which is strongly opposed to any migration of Palestinians out of Gaza. The workforce will consist mainly of local Palestinians.

“The goal is to marginalize Hamas so that it understands that it has lost control of Gaza, and to completely eliminate the terrorist organization’s grip on the population and the territory within 5 years from the start of reconstruction,” a source involved in the plan said.

An independent “Palestinian administration,” separate from the Palestinian Authority but relying on it, will oversee the reconstruction. This power structure is designed to get the approval of Israel and the United States, who refuse direct management by the Palestinian Authority.

Arab countries fear a resurgence of fighting by Israel, which could, in their view, favor US President Donald Trump’s plan to move Palestinians to neighboring countries. The former US president said he wanted to see Jordan, Egypt, and other Arab countries welcome more displaced people from Gaza, so that the war-torn area can be “cleaned up.”

According to analyzed satellite images, approximately 65% of the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed during the war. Experts estimate that reconstruction could take more than a decade and cost several hundred billion dollars.

The post Arab States to Reveal 5-Year Plan to Rebuild Gaza: No Hamas or Relocation first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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