With expanded U.S. support and favorable shifts in the regional landscape, this next phase signals a significant evolution in Israel’s military objectives, from degrading Hamas’s battlefield capabilities to dismantling its ability to govern.
“We’ve been fighting them for 10 days,” said Maj. Gen. Yaakov Amidror (res.), former Israeli national security advisor. “All they’ve managed to do is fire seven rockets. That tells you how much damage we’ve inflicted already.”
IDF troops encircled Tel al-Sultan in Rafah, Gaza, as they dismantled terrorist infrastructure in the area. The IDF said the operation was to reinforce control and expand the security zone in southern Gaza. (IDF)
A senior Israeli security official told Fox News Digital: “We seized weapons caches, labs, and command centers. Hamas today is not functioning like an army. It’s a dangerous terror group, but it’s not what it was on October 7.”
According to Israeli data, most of Hamas’s senior command has been eliminated and only fragmented units remain.
“They’ve lost their experienced leadership,” the official said. “They’re operating in survival mode.”
This time, Israel is operating under dramatically improved conditions, both militarily and diplomatically.
“The strategic environment has changed,” Amidror told Fox News Digital. “Hezbollah is weaker, Iran is constrained, and the American administration is offering us true support. They’re not telling us where to bomb or how to fight.”
With fewer threats on other fronts and strong backing from the Trump administration, the IDF has broadened its scope to include Hamas’s political leadership.
“We’re not just degrading military capabilities anymore,” Amidror said. “We’re dismantling the structure that allowed Hamas to govern.”
Among the Hamas officials killed recently were Salah al-Bardaweel, a senior member of Hamas’ political bureau, and Ismail Barhoum, the group’s finance chief. These are the kinds of losses in civilian personnel that make it much harder for Hamas to govern the Strip.
During the pause in fighting, Hamas consolidated control over humanitarian aid, confiscating supplies, reselling goods and using them to recruit fighters and maintain loyalty. Israeli officials now say that won’t be allowed to continue.
No aid is now going into Gaza for Hamas to seize. When such aid is resumed, the IDF will make sure it goes directly to its intended recipients, bypassing the grasping hands of Hamas. This will mean that either the IDF, or non-Palestinian Arabs, or possibly UN peacekeepers, will guard that aid inside Gaza and oversee its distribution.
The IDF’s goal is not only to destroy Hamas’ military capability, but to prevent it from remaining as a political force that can still rule in Gaza. That’s why the IDF has been targeting senior officials belonging to Hamas’ political echelon, who have been in charge of running Gaza.
In the past, the Israelis used to wait for Hamas to attack, and then would respond in tit-for-tat fashion. That policy is no longer in force. Now the IDF will attack whenever it senses Hamas is engaged in preparing for war, by training recruits or smuggling in weapons. Large weapons — tanks and armored vehicles — will be taken out by IDF airstrikes before Hamas has had a chance to use them. The IDF policy is now one of round-the-clock pre-emption rather than retaliation.
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