By: Fern Sidman

Despite suffering catastrophic losses in its ongoing war with Israel, the Hamas terror organization has managed to recruit approximately 30,000 new operatives in recent weeks, according to intelligence reports cited by World Israel News. These recruits are being trained in covert facilities scattered throughout the Gaza Strip, signaling Hamas’ determination to maintain and even expand its insurgency capabilities, despite dwindling resources and intensified Israeli military operations.

This dramatic surge in recruitment was first reported by the Saudi media outlet Al-Hadath, and it underscores the persistent threat posed by Hamas—even as Israel continues to dismantle the group’s infrastructure in Gaza. The World Israel News report emphasized that the scope and speed of this recruitment drive have alarmed intelligence agencies in both Israel and the United States, who now see signs of a regenerating insurgency capable of prolonging the conflict indefinitely.

The report detailed that the newly enlisted Hamas operatives are undergoing rigorous training in guerrilla warfare, learning how to fire short-range rockets and deploy improvised explosive devices (IEDs) against advancing Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops. According to the information provided in the World Israel News report on Monday, these recruits are being prepared not as part of a conventional army, but rather as an adaptable, insurgent force prepared to wage prolonged, asymmetrical conflict—particularly in the densely populated urban centers of Gaza.

Hamas has lost much of its advanced weaponry, including long-range missiles, drones, and other strategic assets, as a result of IDF airstrikes and ground operations. Nevertheless, the group has adopted new strategies to compensate. As World Israel News reported, Hamas is now scavenging unexploded Israeli munitions from the battlefield and repurposing them into crude but deadly explosive devices. This tactic reflects both the group’s resourcefulness and its increasing desperation in the face of a shrinking weapons stockpile.

The recruitment drive comes at a time when Hamas is experiencing serious financial hardship, primarily due to Israeli restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. As the report at World Israel News noted, Hamas previously relied heavily on seizing and selling humanitarian supplies—meant for Gazan civilians—at exorbitant prices. These illicit sales served as one of the terror group’s primary revenue streams.

With that pipeline significantly choked off by Israeli military oversight, Hamas is struggling to pay salaries to its fighters, further complicating its efforts to maintain organizational cohesion and loyalty. Nevertheless, the Iranian-backed terror group’s leadership appears determined to sustain and expand its ranks, even amid collapsing infrastructure and a mounting humanitarian crisis of its own making.

The new figures align with earlier assessments by U.S. intelligence officials, who estimated in January that Hamas had already managed to replace nearly all of its fighters killed since the war began. According to the information in the World Israel News report, American Congressional sources told Reuters that between 10,000 and 15,000 new operatives had already joined the terror group by the start of the year, a number that now appears to have doubled in the months since.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken sounded the alarm in public remarks earlier this year, saying, “Each time Israel completes its military operations and pulls back, Hamas militants regroup and reemerge because there’s nothing else to fill the void,” as reported by World Israel News. He added, “Indeed, we assess that Hamas has recruited almost as many new militants as it has lost. That is a recipe for an enduring insurgency and perpetual war.”

This statement encapsulates the growing concern among Western analysts that without a comprehensive plan to replace Hamas governance in Gaza with a legitimate and non-violent alternative, every Israeli withdrawal creates a vacuum that Hamas is quick to exploit.

For Israel, these developments represent a strategic and moral dilemma. While the IDF has achieved significant tactical victories, including the elimination of high-ranking Hamas leaders and the destruction of major weapons caches, the underlying infrastructure of Hamas remains deeply embedded in Gaza’s urban, social, and religious fabric.

As the report at World Israel News indicates, the group’s ability to continually regenerate its ranks—even under intense military pressure—suggests that military action alone may not be sufficient to uproot the organization entirely. Hamas’s use of civilian infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, and mosques, as cover for its operations further complicates Israeli military planning and raises the risk of international backlash.

Adding to the challenge is Hamas’s robust propaganda apparatus, which the World Israel News report noted plays a key role in recruitment and radicalization. By portraying new recruits as “martyrs” defending their homeland against foreign aggression, Hamas taps into a potent emotional narrative that resonates with parts of the Gazan population, despite the group’s well-documented record of using civilians as human shields and prioritizing terror infrastructure over civilian welfare.

This recruitment push also reinforces the need for intelligence-driven operations, including cyber efforts and targeted counterterrorism, to disrupt training camps and intercept communications. Without cutting off the head of the recruitment network, the IDF risks becoming locked in a cycle of attrition, battling a regenerating force that bleeds Israel’s resources and morale over time.

As the report at World Israel News warned, the conflict between Israel and Hamas is entering a new phase—one defined not by large-scale set-piece battles, but by an entrenched insurgency capable of outlasting military campaigns through strategic adaptation and unrelenting ideological commitment. Hamas’s recruitment of 30,000 new fighters, despite widespread losses and economic hardship, demonstrates a sobering truth: the terror group remains dangerous, viable, and determined.