Israel has admitted that more time will be needed to root out Hamas permanently from Gaza, sources in the Israeli Army said. Sources told the Jerusalem Post that the Army believes that it would take a year more to root out Hamas. Israel claimed that it had recently launched an operation against Hamas militants and neutralized over 300 of them. 

Israel had claimed around 18,000 to 20,000 Hamas militants were killed

Before the announcement of the ceasefire on January 19, Israel had claimed that around 18,000 to 20,000 Hamas militants were killed in Gaza, but the fresh claims contradicted their earlier statements. 

Army will have to engage in a long battle

Israel believes that Hamas may have over 25,000 militants, and their focus is to eliminate more militants, and they are putting effort to achieve the target. Sources further added that Rafah had over four to eight thousand militants, but now only a few hundred are alive. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officials are of the view that the Army will have to engage in a long battle if the top leaders of Hamas are not ready to surrender, and their focus will shift to eliminating the small groups of militants in the region. 

IDF is hoping that Hamas leaders will surrender

Now, the question is how long the war will continue. The Israeli officials are hoping that soon the Hamas leaders will surrender after losing the hold in the region. But, if it does not happen, the war will continue for more years, and the construction work will be hampered. The IDF officials say it becomes difficult for them to identify the militants among the citizens. 

IDF vows to root out Hamas

It was believed that the IDF had taken full control of Al Shaboura of central Rafah city, but the IDF launched several major offensives in the recent past. Now, it is clear that it has become a mammoth task for IDF to eliminate Hamas. IDF has said that its operations will continue till the elimination of Hamas militants.