Report: Hamas’s Shift to Guerrilla Tactics Could Drag Israel Into ‘Forever War’

By Yoni Weiss

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that Hamas has shifted to guerrilla warfare tactics, potentially leading the IDF into what the newspaper termed “a forever war.” Despite seven months of war in the Gaza Strip, Hamas is described as “far from defeated.”

An Israeli reservist from the 98th commando division, currently engaged in combat in Jabalia, informed the Journal that Hamas has been adopting more aggressive tactics, including firing anti-tank weapons at soldiers sheltering in houses and at Israeli military vehicles on a daily basis.

The report underscores Hamas’s resilience as a strategic challenge for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who pledged to end the war only after completely destroying the terrorist organization.

Hamas is assessed to likely endure irrespective of whether the IDF proceeds with a full-scale invasion of Rafah or refrains from it. The WSJ highlighted Hamas’s effective utilization of “its network of tunnels, small cells of fighters, and broad social influence to not only survive but to harass Israeli forces.”

The report quoted Maj. Gen. Tamir Hayman, a former head of IDF intelligence, who emphasized, “Even if you erode the terror activity, still you have the societal structures, the sense of Islamic brotherhood, the ideological and religious elements. That’s not something that can be rooted out.”