White House: Hamas Has Significant Power In Gaza

UNSPLASH/Tabrez Syed White House/ILLUSTRATION

JAKARTA - The White House considers the Palestinian Hamas fighter group to still have significant strength in the Gaza Strip, even after a three-month war against Israel, resulting in mass destruction and evacuation in the trapped enclave.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters President Joe Biden's administration had an estimated number of Hamas fighters still on the battlefield, but said he was fed up with revealing it.

"Hamas still has a significant strength posture in Gaza," Kirby said as quoted by ANTARA from Anadolu, Thursday, January 4.

Kirby explained that he was not sure that an Israeli military attack would be able to eradicate the Hamas ideology in Gaza.

"And it's impossible for you to get rid of any Hamas fighters," he said.

So in this case you still have to accept the fact that there may still be some members of Hamas even when your military operation is complete. That is, what they can do is eradicate the threat that Hamas poses to the Israeli people. And you can do this by pursuing leadership, you can do it by pursuing their infrastructure, you can do it by pursuing their resources," Kirby said.

Israel started its war in Gaza in retaliation for a surprising cross-border Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

Israel's widespread attacks in the densely populated region have left most of Gaza's more than two million population displaced amid a shortage of daily necessities, including food, water and medicine.

About 70 percent of homes in Gaza have been destroyed by Israeli attacks.

In nearly three months that have passed, more than 22,100 Palestinians have been killed, about two-thirds of which are women and children. More than 57,000 others were injured, according to Gaza's health authorities. Meanwhile, from the Israeli side, about 1,200 are believed to have died as a result of Hamas attacks.