David Hearst
9 October 2025 19:34 BST

Hamas’s own assessment of the battle damage is that its institutional integrity, command and control, and communications have all withstood the severest of tests, including assassinations of top leaders, along with the several Hiroshimas’ worth of high-powered explosives that Israel has dropped on Gaza.

It has as many fighters as it did at the start of the war, and can draw upon a virtually unlimited amount of small arms and explosives to fashion anti-tank rockets and improvised explosive devices.

Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group in the UK and other countries, does not regard itself as a defeated force - still less one that is now obliged to bend to Israel’s military will. The same is true for the other fighting factions in Gaza.

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