Since the beginning of the ground operation in late October, the IDF has rendered at least three Hamas battalions combat ineffective, the Institute for the Study of War said this week in a report on the fighting.
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According to the analysis, which draws on open-source information from Hamas, Palestinians, Western media, and the IDF, at least eight battalions are degraded and at least 12 are currently under intense IDF pressure.
The ISW categorized the combat capability of the battalions as "combat effective," "combat ineffective" (its ability to continue executing assigned missions seriously was impeded), and "degraded" (no longer able to complete its mission).
For instance, the Shuja'iyya Battalion is believed to be largely defeated (degraded). On Dec. 15, the IDF secured and destroyed the battalion's command and control center.
Video: Mixed-gender Shachar Battalion joins fighting / Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit
Of the five brigades covered in the report, two are categorized as degraded (North Brigade and Gaza Brigade) and three as combat effective (Central Brigade, Khan Younis Brigade, and Rafah Brigade). "Israeli ground forces first partially cleared the northern Gaza Strip before moving south after a seven-day cessation of fighting that ended on Dec. 1," the report explained.
The commander of the Central Brigade was killed in a strike in the Bureij refugee camp in mid-October. The commander of the North Brigade, Ahmed Ghandour, was killed in an IDF strike in mid-November.
Israel's objective is to destroy Hamas' governing and military capabilities to prevent a repeat of the Oct. 7 attack.
