Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigade, claimed responsibility on Tuesday for targeting Tel Aviv with two rockets from Gaza – in the first attack by Hamas on Tel Aviv since May.
Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported that there were no casualties, with the Israeli military claiming that one rocket landed in the Mediterranean Sea, whilst the other failed to cross into Israel.
In a statement on Telegram, the Brigades claimed “it was in retaliation for the massacres and forced displacement perpetrated by Israel.”
This comes as negotiators are set to meet in Cairo on Thursday, in the latest and perhaps most high-stake round of ceasefire negotiations, with Iranian sources telling Reuters that only a ceasefire deal can now hold Iran back from direct retaliation against Israel.
However, an important question remains, 10 months into the war in Gaza, amid Israeli claims to have almost completely dismantled Hamas’ battalions: How is it possible that Hamas can still launch rockets at Tel Aviv?
The Prime Minister’s Office has repeatedly made the claim that 22 of 24 Hamas battalions have been dismantled and no longer function in a military structure, and the Israeli military is working to dismantle the remaining two.
However, a CNN investigation in August found out that nearly half of Hamas’ battalions in central and north Gaza have rebuilt their fighting capacities, by recruiting new fighters and making effective use of dwindling resources on the ground.
As of July 1, only three of these 24 battalions were combat ineffective, meaning they were destroyed by the Israeli military, whilst 8 battalions remain combat effective.
The remaining 13 have had their capacity degraded, but are still able to launch sporadic guerilla-style attack on the Israeli military, reports CNN.
Meanwhile, 7 of these 16 battalions have been able to reconstitute – rebuild some of their military capabilities at least once in the last six months, claims CNN.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel is on the brink of achieving its central war goal: wiping out Hamas in its entirety. At the end of July, he told the US Congress that “victory is in sight.”
However, it seems increasingly apparent that with Hamas’ new leader Yahya Sinwar still alive in Gaza, and the Israeli military regularly clearing out areas of the territory that have previously been cleared multiple times – and now this rocket attack on Israel’s largest city –, Hamas is far from being eradicated.
