How strong is Hamas?

Analysts warn that Islamist group may sustain 'lingering armed resistance for years to come'

Hamas fighters take part in a military parade in June 2023
Hamas fighters take part in a military parade in June 2023
(Image credit: Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

"Does Hamas still exist militarily? Yes. Is it organised? No. The path to completely dismantling them goes on."

That was the view of a senior Israeli military official in March this year, but two months later – and more than seven months since the 7 October attack that led to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's pledge to "eliminate" the Islamist group – Israel has "failed to destroy Hamas as a military and political force" Beverley Milton-Edwards, co-author of a forthcoming book "HAMAS", wrote in The Times.

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Elliott Goat is a freelance writer at The Week Digital. A winner of The Independent's Wyn Harness Award, he has been a journalist for over a decade with a focus on human rights, disinformation and elections. He is co-founder and director of Brussels-based investigative NGO Unhack Democracy, which works to support electoral integrity across Europe. A Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellow focusing on unions and the Future of Work, Elliott is a founding member of the RSA's Good Work Guild and a contributor to the International State Crime Initiative, an interdisciplinary forum for research, reportage and training on state violence and corruption.