The Israeli military has reportedly told US officials that Hamas rebuilt its tunnel network and fighting capabilities in the besieged Gaza Strip and is preparing for renewed confrontation, arguing that the Palestinian resistance movement can only be disarmed through another full-scale military aggression.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Israeli military officials presented US Army officers and Israeli regime officials with an intelligence assessment claiming that Hamas has no intention of surrendering its weapons and is preparing for renewed fighting in the blockaded strip.
The report comes amid the Netanyahu regime’s reluctance to cooperate with the US-sponsored 20-point plan by President Donald Trump.
Haaretz reported that the Israeli assessment concluded that Hamas could not be disarmed by an international body and that renewed military aggression is necessary to dismantle its armed capabilities.
The assessment states that Hamas has reconstructed its tunnel network and strengthened its weapons stockpiles and fighting forces in areas of Gaza that remain under its control.
Israeli estimates put the movement’s operational strength at approximately 30,000 to 40,000 members, a figure Israeli media have described as comparable to its pre-war numbers.
The Israeli regime’s security establishment also reportedly believes that Hamas continues to exercise effective governance across Gaza.
Other Israeli media outlets have raised similar concerns over the movement’s continued presence as an armed and political force following two years of devastating Israeli bombardment and a full-scale military aggression.
The Israeli news website Ynet reported that Hamas has approximately 30,000 personnel across the Gaza Strip, including administrative employees, lower-level operatives and members of its military wing.
Hamas had expressed readiness to transfer administrative authority to a US-backed technocratic body, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), as envisaged under the agreement.
However, according to the report, Israel has prevented the committee from entering the territory and beginning its work.
Meanwhile, restrictions on Gaza have continued despite the US-sponsored ceasefire plan. Humanitarian aid deliveries remain severely limited, while Israeli forces continue to restrict the entry of essential medical equipment and supplies, including wheelchairs.
The Israeli regime has vowed to maintain its military presence and continue the onslaught in Gaza, while Hamas has said it will not surrender its weapons before a process toward establishing an independent Palestinian state begins.
More than 1,500 people have been killed since the Israeli regime and the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, which controls Gaza, agreed to a ceasefire mediated by the regional countries in October 2025 to end the Israeli genocide in Gaza that has killed nearly 75,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023.
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