US Intel Figures Show Hamas Has Recruited Up to 15,000 New Fighters During Gaza War

The Palestinian terror group Hamas has recruited between 10,000 and 15,000 members since the start of its war with Israel, according to two congressional sources briefed on US intelligence, suggesting the Iran-backed fighters could remain a persistent threat to Israel.  

The intelligence indicates a similar number of Hamas fighters have been killed during that period, the sources said. The latest official US estimates have not been previously reported. 

The sources briefed on the intelligence, which was included in a series of updates from US intelligence agencies in the final weeks of the Biden administration, said that while Hamas has successfully recruited new members, many are young and untrained and are being used for simple security purposes. The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment.

On January 14, then-president Joe Biden’s Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States believed Hamas had recruited almost as many fighters as it had lost in the Palestinian enclave, cautioning that this was a “recipe for an enduring insurgency and perpetual war.”  

He did not provide further details about the assessment, but Israeli figures have put the total terrorist death toll in Gaza at around 20,000. “Each time Israel completes its military operations and pulls back, Hamas militants regroup and reemerge because there’s nothing else to fill the void,” Blinken said. (TOI / VFI News)

“When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases; but the righteous will see their fall.” - Proverbs 29:16