Six months on, how close is Israel to eliminating Hamas?

 

Almost six months have passed since Hamas militants invaded Israel from Gaza on October 7, murdering about 1,200 people and capturing hundreds more.

Israel retaliated by vowing to "crush and destroy Hamas" in order to eliminate any danger and free all the hostages.

Large swathes of Gaza have been devastated, and the Hamas-run health ministry claims that at least 33,000 Palestinians have died in the ensuing terrible battle.

According to Israel, hundreds of Hamas fighters have been killed and a large portion of the extensive network of tunnels beneath Gaza that Hamas has utilized for assaults has been destroyed.

How many Hamas leaders have been killed?

IDF officers were quoted in publications stating that Hamas had around 30,000 militants in Gaza before to October 7.

Numerous prominent political individuals within Hamas, including Ismail Haniyeh, who is commonly regarded as the organization's leader, reside overseas. However, a large portion of its military hierarchy is believed to be located within Gaza.

The IDF claimed to have killed over 13,000 Hamas members since the beginning of the conflict in a recent statement, although it did not specify how it arrived at that number.

Additionally, Israel releases the identities of specific Hamas leaders that it claims have been killed.

Since October, 113 individuals have been identified in this manner; the vast majority of them were reportedly slain in the first three months of the conflict. In contrast, it wasn't until March that the Israeli army announced the deaths of any key Hamas figures in Gaza this year.

The deputy commander of Hamas's armed branch, Marwan Issa, was declared dead by the IDF on March 26. He was regarded as one of Israel's most wanted persons and would be the most senior commander to be murdered by the organization since the start of the war. Although Hamas has not verified it, the US has stated that it thinks he was murdered.

Although the identities of those the IDF claims to be prominent Hamas officials who have been killed are published, it is impossible to confirm if they actually belong to the organization. Mustafa Thuraya was one of the people mentioned in this category. He was a freelance journalist in southern Gaza in January when his car was struck.

In the list, we also discovered several duplicate names, which we have removed from the total.

Outside of Gaza, in January, an explosion in the Dahiyeh area of southern Beirut claimed the life of Hamas political leader Saleh al-Arouri. Most people agree that Israel was behind the strike.

Many of the group's well-known leaders in Gaza, like Yahya Sinwar, are reportedly still alive, according to analysts we spoke with.

Mairav Zonszein is a senior expert on Israeli-Palestinian politics at the International Crisis Group. "The IDF hasn't been able to get to the top brass of the Hamas leadership," he adds.

"Both on a symbolic level of getting to the main leaders, and also on the level of replacing Hamas as the holder of the territory, that's something that it hasn't been able to achieve," adds Zonszein.

How many hostages remain in Gaza?

Official data from Israel state that on October 7, 253 persons were held hostage. 109 of them have been freed as a result of different agreements or prisoner exchanges.

3 have been directly saved during military operations by the Israeli army.

Eleven captives' remains have been found, three of whom the IDF acknowledged murdering during an operation.

The eldest verified captive is 85 years old, while the youngest is 18.

Israel claims that at least 34 of the 130 captives being held are dead.

According to Hamas, more captives have died as a result of IDF airstrikes. However, it is impossible to confirm these claims.

Ariel and Kfir, who were kidnapped during the Hamas assault, were the two youngest captives taken: they were 4 years and 9 months old, respectively. Although reported, their deaths have not been verified.

How much of the Hamas tunnel network has been destroyed?

Israel committed to demolish Hamas' massive tunnel network, which it uses to transport people and commodities beneath Gaza, as part of its effort to eradicate the organization.

Consider the Gaza Strip as having two layers: one for people and another for Hamas. IDF spokesman Jonathan Conricus stated in October that "we are trying to get to that second layer that Hamas has built."

In the past, Hamas has claimed that their network of tunnels spans 500 km (311 miles), although this claim cannot be independently verified.

We questioned the IDF about the number of tunnels they had destroyed and their percentage of the entire network. They responded by saying that Israeli troops had "destroyed a great deal of the terrorist infrastructure in Gaza".

On occasion, the IDF has displayed proof of tunnels discovered by Hamas. For instance, the IDF claimed to be using video footage of a portion of the tunnel network beneath Gaza City's al-Shifa Hospital as a command center when it published the film in November.

In an attempt to ascertain the scope of the whole network discovered by the Israelis, BBC Verify has examined every communication posted by the IDF on the social media platform Telegram that mentions Gaza tunnels between October 7, 2023, and March 26, 2024.

Out of these, 198 reported tunnel discoveries, wherein the military claimed to have found tunnels or underground shafts. According to 141 more communications, a tunnel has either been demolished or disassembled.

Since the majority of those did not provide exact information or particular locations, it is impossible to verify the size of the network that the IDF has found and destroyed.

The underground paths, chambers of different sizes, and the point where the tunnel reaches the surface—known as a tunnel shaft—are the numerous parts that make up Gaza's labyrinth.

36 of the communications that we examined mentioned hitting more than 400 subterranean shafts in total. But according to Dr. Daphné Richemond-Barak, an expert in subterranean warfare and professor at Reichman University in Israel, comparing a shaft to a whole tunnel would be deceptive.

The network remains intact when tunnel shafts are simply destroyed, according to her. "I don't think we've seen a lot of full destruction of tunnels in this war," she continues.

Israel's offensive has come at a high price

Palestinians in Gaza have suffered greatly as a result of Israel's military objectives. Over thirty-three thousand people have died, according to the health ministry operated by Hamas.

According to the ministry's most recent demographic analysis, which was released on April 5, women and children made up more over 70% of the dead.

In an effort to demolish Hamas infrastructure, Israeli soldiers have uprooted and left many others homeless. As per the United Nations, the number of internally displaced individuals is around 1.7 million.

Homes have been left in ruins, busy streets have been turned to rubble, colleges have been wrecked, and farmlands have been displaced.

Based on an examination of satellite data, more over 56% of Gaza's structures have been damaged or destroyed since October 7.

It's still unclear, six months after the war started, if Israel has achieved its goals.

Rob England, Emma Pengelly, Jamie Ryan, and Maryam Ahmed contributed additional reporting.