Daijiworld Media Network - Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv, Oct 10: Hamas leadership considers its ability to withstand the Israeli military over the past three years a form of “victory”, despite Israel controlling approximately 70 per cent of the Gaza Strip, according to an intelligence assessment presented to Israel’s senior political and defence leadership on Friday.
The assessment indicated that Hamas views Israel’s territorial control as temporary and remains committed to its long-term ideological objectives. According to a senior Israeli security official, the group believes that US President Donald Trump’s proposed plan for Gaza, which includes economic development backed by tens of billions of dollars in investment, is linked to the vision outlined by Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin in 1999.
“They are convinced that Trump’s points-based plan for the Gaza Strip, which his son-in-law Jared Kushner is advancing, is a direct continuation of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin’s vision,” the official said, adding that Hamas continues to believe in this outlook despite delays in the plan’s implementation.
The official said Hamas leaders interpret their continued resistance as evidence that they have not been defeated. Despite facing one of the region’s strongest militaries, the group believes it has avoided surrender and continues to present its survival as a strategic achievement.
According to the assessment, Hamas is preparing for a possible Israeli ground offensive towards Gaza City. The preparations are reportedly continuing despite tensions between the organisation’s local leadership and Khalil al-Hayya, who is based in Qatar.
The group is allegedly recruiting fighters, distributing weapons, digging defensive tunnels, manufacturing explosive devices, producing short-range projectiles and preparing other measures to counter a potential Israeli advance.
Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces’ Southern Command, Military Intelligence Directorate and Air Force, along with the Shin Bet security agency, have intensified targeted operations against Hamas operatives. The operations are aimed at individuals involved in the October 7 attack on Israel, as well as those suspected of planning further attacks or establishing terrorist infrastructure.
The Israeli operations are intended to increase pressure on Hamas and disrupt its efforts to rebuild its military capabilities.
The senior security official said that Hamas’s refusal to disarm or transfer control of Gaza to an alternative governing authority has prompted the Israeli military to prepare for a possible large-scale movement of civilians ahead of a ground offensive into Gaza City.
The stated objectives of such an operation would be to dismantle Hamas’s infrastructure and destroy battalions of its military wing that are assessed to retain significant operational capabilities. The official said a ground offensive would ultimately be unavoidable.
According to an assessment within Israel’s defence establishment, a decision on whether to proceed with the operation is expected after Israel’s elections.
The assessment also referred to the ideology of Ahmed Yassin, Hamas’s founder and former leader, who was killed in an Israeli targeted strike in 2004. Yassin had described Israel as a temporary entity that would eventually disappear and be replaced by an Islamic state across the entire territory.
In a 1999 interview with Al Jazeera, Yassin predicted that Israel would cease to exist by 2027 or, at the latest, 2028. His prediction was based on a theory of successive 40-year periods, which he divided into different historical stages.
The first stage, according to his interpretation, was the generation of the Nakba, extending from 1948 into the 1980s. The second was the generation of resistance, which initiated the armed struggle against Israel. The final stage, in his vision, would culminate in Hamas’s victory, Israel’s collapse and the establishment of an Islamic state in its place.