Insider from the USA:

Hamas recruited up to 15,000 new fighters

(Bild: APA/AFP/MAHMUD HAMS)

According to information from US circles, the radical Islamic Hamas has recruited between 10,000 and 15,000 new members since the beginning of the Gaza war. This indicates that the Islamists could remain a persistent threat to Israel, as the Reuters news agency learned from congressional insiders.

According to US intelligence information, the number of newly recruited fighters should correspond to the number of Hamas fighters already killed in the war. However, many of the new recruits are young and inexperienced and will only be used for simple security tasks. No official statement from the US government or Hamas was initially available.

"Recipe for an ongoing uprising"
On January 14, the then US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had already stated that it was assumed that Hamas had recruited almost as many fighters in the Palestinian enclave as it had lost. This is a "recipe for an ongoing uprising and an eternal war", he warned.

Basic services are being restored in the Gaza Strip
Israel puts the total number of fighters killed in the Gaza Strip at around 20,000. According to earlier official US estimates, Hamas had between 20,000 and 25,000 fighters before its surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Since the start of the ceasefire, the Hamas-led administration has quickly resumed security measures and begun restoring basic services in parts of the enclave.