No sign of weakness, retreat from Hamas: Israeli expert

ISTANBUL

There is "still no sign of weakness or retreat" in the Palestinian resistance movement in the Gaza Strip, Israeli expert on Hamas Guy Aviad said on Saturday.

Despite Israeli forces killing nearly 23,000 Palestinians since the resistance group's attacks on Oct. 7, Aviad, who authored a book on Hamas, claimed to Israeli Channel 12 that Hamas is "happy and united" with the current situation in Gaza, adding that there is no sign of "weakness or retreat" from the group at the moment.

Aviad claimed that "it seems that the other side is confident," taking into account the Hamas leadership's insistence on linking negotiations to a total cease-fire in the enclave as the Israeli army last time ended the week-long humanitarian pause on Dec. 1 by bombing Khan Younis in Gaza.

In response to a question about the whereabouts of Hamas leader Yahya al-Sinwar, Aviad claimed that he could be "anywhere in Gaza" and repeated Israeli officials' claims, telling Channel 12 that "there are hundreds of kilometers of underground tunnels" in Gaza.

Despite launching a ground operation early last month, Israel has yet to present any concrete proof of tunnels used by Hamas forces.

On Oct. 27, Israel army spokesman Daniel Hagari claimed that five hospital buildings were directly involved in Hamas activities and that the buildings sat atop underground tunnels.

However, none of the five hospital buildings that Hagari identified appeared to be connected to the tunnel network, according to The Washington Post's investigative reports published on Dec. 21. Moreover, there is no evidence that the tunnels could be accessed from hospital wards, the daily added.

Since Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, Israel has continued relentless attacks on the Gaza Strip, killing at least 22,722 Palestinians and injuring 58,166, according to local health authorities.

Israeli authorities claimed that the Hamas attacks have killed around 1,200 Israelis.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicines.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi