Photo: Yousef Mohammed/FLASH90

In the Israeli army, it is claimed that during the operation known as "Operation Al-Aqsa Sword" by Hamas, between 800 to 1000 militants participated, reports News of Israel. 

In a matter of hours, they infiltrated the country through approximately 80 breaches made in the security fence. The element of surprise and their large numbers explain the ease with which the terrorists managed to capture several military bases in the border area. It turns out that no matter how advanced the technology is (as confirmed by the Russo-Ukrainian war), basic principles of military art that have existed since ancient times still apply. The bold, unexpected, and rapid maneuver by Hamas's "cavalry" led to the capture of formidable IDF armored vehicles. A photo of a militant in a T-shirt and "track pants" on top of a Merkava tank serves as confirmation of this.

Channel KAN reports, citing military sources, that Hamas had been planning this operation for over a year and had kept it a secret even from their closest allies in the Islamic Jihad. As for the role of Iran and Hezbollah in planning the operation, one can only speculate at this point. Sources within Hamas and the Lebanese Shiite party reported to the Wall Street Journal that since August, Qassem Soleimani (KCSIR) and Hezbollah had been directly involved in the planning, meeting every two weeks. Indeed, over the past year, there have been quite a few reports in the media about meetings between Hamas leaders and Iranian military commanders and political leaders. However, Washington stated that it has no confirmation of the WSJ's information.

In the morning, Israeli military officials expressed the assumption that Hamas had at least one active combat tunnel through which fighters were being transferred to the Western Negev. This, apparently, explains why the IDF was unable to eliminate all the terrorists in this small area over the course of two days. Clashes with small groups of 6-7 individuals continued near several kibbutzim into the morning. Around 9 a.m., the media reported, citing security forces, that relatively large Hamas forces were still infiltrating Israel at that time.