“In the two years since the IDF left the Philadelphi Corridor (along the border between Gaza and Egypt), Hamas has leapt forward by a generation,” a senior IDF officer said in a briefing.
Hamas has built a de facto army, the officer added, noting that their forces number from 12,000 to 13,000 with a clear command structure and training regime.
“Hamas already has four trained divisions … It also has forces specializing in various types of combat. An additional element is the hundreds of operatives traveling to Iran in order to acquire new (military) knowledge to bring back to Gaza.”