GAZA STRIP — Reports emerged in mid-April 2026 indicating Hamas had reconstituted its forces to 27,000 armed fighters and was reassembling rockets. This development followed previous statements from Israeli officials concerning the group's militant structure.

By January 2025, officials had estimated Hamas had as many as 23,000 fighters. Other officials provided a lower estimate of approximately 12,000 fighters during the same period. Defense officials stated in January 2025 that these estimated 12,000 Hamas fighters were not organized into experienced battalions comparable to 2023.

IDF officials stated that around 7,000 Hamas fighters positioned themselves across the Gaza Strip to re-establish order and control when the permanent ceasefire began in October 2025. According to IDF officials, the number of Hamas fighters prepared for combat with the IDF was likely closer to a couple of thousand at most. Since summer 2024, the largest engagement between the IDF and a single Hamas group involved approximately 200 fighters in a Rafah tunnel during October and November 2025.

Hamas has not launched rockets in large numbers since January 2024. The group has fired no more than single-digit numbers of rockets since May 2024. IDF sources indicated that the overall volume of Hamas aerial threats is less than thousands, with potentially almost zero actual rockets. However, in the last two weeks of June 2026, the IDF destroyed two concentrations of approximately four rocket launchers each, located near one another.

The IDF killed Hamas military chiefs Mohammed Sinwar, Iz-al-Din al Hadad, and Mohammed Oudeh in succession. Instances where a few dozen Hamas fighters stormed small IDF positions in Gaza, resulting in single-digit casualties among soldiers, have not occurred since the October 2025 ceasefire.

Why It Matters

The mid-April 2026 reports suggest a resurgence of Hamas's military capabilities and organization following a period where its operational capacity was considered diminished. This increase in reported fighter numbers and the reassembly of rockets indicates a potential shift in the group's strength since earlier assessments in 2025, which reported lower numbers and less organized units. The developments contrast with the cessation of large-scale rocket fire since early 2024 and the absence of incursions on IDF positions since the October 2025 ceasefire, presenting a changing assessment of the group's ongoing activities.