The commander of the IDF’s Gaza Division, Brigadier General Barak Hiram, believes Hamas is gradually losing power—not only on the battlefield, but from within. In recordings broadcast Tuesday evening by Kan News, Hiram stated:
“I believe that the last remaining Hamas leader—the one we don’t manage to eliminate—will be taken out by the people themselves, who will show him, like they did with Gaddafi, exactly what they think.”
Hamas is losing power and ceasing to exist
According to Hiram, Hamas’s control mechanisms are on the verge of collapse.
“In recent months, Hamas has struggled mightily to pay salaries across its various arms. Once the system stops functioning—once people stop reporting to Hamas jobs—Hamas begins to lose its power. Eventually, it ceases to exist.”
The commander painted a cautiously optimistic picture of the weakening of Hamas rule in Gaza. He emphasized that victory in this war will not be measured solely by how many buildings are destroyed or how many terrorists are eliminated, but by breaking the foundation that supports Hamas’s ideology: “When we manage to dismantle enough of the elements that give this idea its structure—its operating mechanism—we’ll know that’s our victory.”
Regarding the Egyptian border, Hiram stressed that all the tunnels in the Philadelphi Corridor have been completely destroyed: “We’ve scanned the entire Philadelphi route, meter by meter, so thoroughly that we can say with certainty—there are no longer any tunnels crossing from Egypt into Gaza. Everything we found was destroyed. Completely.”
“No more underground smuggling”
He added that the ability to resume digging tunnels is practically nonexistent: “There’s no one left to dig. Especially now that we’ve moved the population out of Khan Younis and al-Mawasi. And we now have the capability to detect any digging—where it’s happening, if it’s happening. So, no more underground smuggling—not along the Gaza border and not even in the nearby areas, up to Nitzana.”
The humanitarian aid
On the topic of humanitarian aid to Gaza, Hiram called for strict oversight: “The security arrangements that will be set at the end of the war will be designed to prevent smuggling and block the internal production of weapons going forward. That’s the key point here.”
“The hostages will be freed through pressure”
On the issue of the hostages, Hiram emphasized: “I believe we understand by now that the hostages will be freed as part of a deal reached through pressure. It’s not just about heroic operations.”
When asked when Hamas will suffer a final defeat, he responded: “I can’t promise how long it will take. The pain, the blood, the suffering, the hostages—these are things we want to see end, and soon. We want the suffering to stop. We want to bring them home.”
Hiram’s comments align with other assessments within the security establishment, which suggest that the ongoing erosion of Hamas’s capabilities may lead to internal shifts among the population of Gaza.
Fighting in Gaza continues
Meanwhile, the fighting in Gaza has intensified over the past week. Combat teams from the IDF’s 36th Division continue to work to eliminate terrorist infrastructure, both above and below ground, in cooperation with elite Yahalom engineering units. Their goal is to neutralize terrorists from various organizations operating in the area.
The forces on the ground, supported by artillery and fire support teams, are operating to weaken the operational capabilities of terrorist groups. During these missions, dozens of terrorists have been eliminated, and hundreds of terror infrastructures destroyed, including observation posts, combat compounds, tunnel shafts, and underground routes.
Footage from the 36th Division in Gaza:
