[UPDATE-Day 84-Dec 29-23:00Z] Israel-Hamas War: Real Time Reaction and Analysis

Is Hamas on the verge of collapsing in Gaza? Israel’s objective is to destroy Hamas’ governing and military capabilities to prevent a repeat of the Oct. 7th attack. Since the beginning of the ground operation in late October, the IDF has rendered at least three Hamas battalions combat ineffective, the Institute for the Study of War said this week in a report on the fighting. According to the analysis, which draws on open-source information from Hamas, Palestinians, Western media, and the IDF, at least eight battalions are degraded and at least 12 are currently under intense IDF pressure. The ISW…