It is difficult to do a direct soldier-to-soldier comparison between the IDF and Hamas. We know a great deal about the Israel military, a truly professional force, but not a lot about Hamas, a not so professional force. In fact, it is difficult to call the Hamas fighters “soldiers” as that denotes a level of professionalism that they clearly lack. Further, the IDF is a defined military force that is an arm of a legitimate nation state. Gaza is not a nation state, although one could argue they were, on 10/6, a de facto state organization. Hamas is, at best, a type of militia with a set of strengths and weaknesses. …

Recently the IDF published an intelligence summary about the Hamas military in Gaza. They put the strength of the Qassam Brigades there at the start of the war at 30,000 fighters, organized into five Brigades that were positioned by area. These brigades consisted of 24 battalions made up of approximately 140 company sized units. These in turn have several platoons. Each regional brigade had a number of strongholds and outposts, and included their version of combat support and combat service support forces. These fighters were equipped to use more specialized munitions such as rockets, anti-tank missiles, air defenses, snipers, and engineers.

[This is one of the best primers for those unfamiliar with the contenders in this war, worthy of bookmarking as a reference. The conclusion of ‘Diogenes’ seems spot-on: Hamas cannot win without the international community pressuring Israel into surrender. Diogenes is a little more optimistic than I am on this strategy working in this conflict after seeing the pending cease-fire deal take shape, but I think he’s on the correct line of thought otherwise. — Ed]