A Hamas official based in Qatar tells the Reuters news agency that the group estimated it had lost 6,000 fighters during the four-month-old conflict, about half the 12,000 Israel says it has killed.
Hamas can keep fighting and is prepared for a long war in Rafah and Gaza, says the official, who requested anonymity.
“Netanyahu’s options are difficult and ours are too. He can occupy Gaza but Hamas is still standing and fighting. He hasn’t achieved his goals to kill the Hamas leadership or annihilate Hamas,” he adds.
The comments are a rare acknowledgment from the terror group that it has suffered significant losses in the Gaza fighting and appears to mark the first time that they have differentiated between combatants and civilians in a death toll from the fighting.
According to official figures from the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry 28,985 Palestinians have been killed in the war.
However, these figures cannot be independently verified, and are believed to include both civilians and Hamas members killed in Gaza, including as a consequence of terror groups’ own rocket misfires. The IDF says it has killed nearly 12,000 operatives in Gaza, in addition to some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
The IDF says 235 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the Gaza ground offensive.
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From the Liveblog of
Monday, February 19, 2024
