In a high-stakes sweep deep inside Gaza this week, IDF Nahal Brigade forces uncovered and demolished a concealed battery of long-range rocket launchers, in what Israeli military officials are calling another significant blow to Hamas’s dwindling operational capabilities.

The launchers, strategically hidden near a former school-turned-military-hideout, were part of Hamas’s persistent effort to terrorize Israeli communities. One of the destroyed launchers was reportedly used earlier in the week to fire multiple rockets at the Israeli town of Kissufim and IDF positions nearby.

But the Israeli forces didn’t stop there.

The IDF also neutralized multiple sniper nests, anti-tank missile sites, weapons caches, booby-trapped structures, and terrorist observation posts—all part of a complex infrastructure Hamas continues to embed inside civilian areas in blatant violation of international law.

GAZA UPDATE 🔴

The IDF reports that the Israeli Air Force struck dozens of targets across Gaza over the past 48 hours.

Among them was a rocket launcher used to fire at the Kissufim area and IDF forces on Monday.

Other strikes targeted terror operatives, weapons depots,… pic.twitter.com/WfnSFjbU4Q

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) May 28, 2025

601 Days of War: Hamas Decapitated, But Not Dead

As Israel's war against Hamas enters its 601st day, the Jewish state has scored historic victories in decimating the group’s leadership, shattering its military wing, and isolating it diplomatically.

The IDF’s systematic campaign has killed nearly all of Hamas’s senior commanders in Gaza, including:

• Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the October 7 massacre

• Mohammed Deif, shadowy architect of countless terrorist operations

• Marwan Issa, Sinwar’s deputy

• Rafa Salama, top Khan Younis commander

• Mohammed Sinwar, Yahya's brother, eliminated in early May

Only Ezz al-Din al-Haddad, commander of the Gaza City Brigade, is believed to remain active—though his days appear numbered.

Hamas win the prize for “most fucked up strategy of all time”, and it’s twisting Israel in knots.

Israel won’t stop until the hostages are secured. They’re squeezing Hamas militarily to make a deal, but Hamas has no incentive to make a deal.

Hamas don’t want the war to stop or…

— Andrew Fox (@Mr_Andrew_Fox) May 28, 2025

Outside Gaza, Hamas’s political arm has fared no better.

• Ismail Haniyeh was reportedly assassinated in Tehran.

• Saleh al-Arouri, architect of Hamas-West Bank strategy, was eliminated in Lebanon.
  In their absence, Khalil al-Hayya and ex-leader Khaled Mashal now attempt to steer the group through ceasefire negotiations, but with vastly reduced leverage.

The Last Card: Hamas’s Tunnel Empire

What remains of Hamas’s strategic deterrence is buried underground. Despite Israel’s relentless operations across all sectors of the Strip, a vast subterranean maze of over 1,300 tunnels spanning 500 kilometers and plunging as deep as 70 meters still serves as Hamas’s final lifeline.

These tunnels function as:

• Attack routes for surprise strikes

• Command-and-control conduits for its fragmented leadership

• Smuggling arteries

• And tragically, holding cells for 58 Israeli hostages, some of whom have languished underground for nearly 600 days.

  🔍 The Evidence Was Always There
  
  The media once reported on Hamas’ vast tunnel network—buried beneath homes, schools, and hospitals. But since October 7, they’ve ignored it.
  
  So we mapped it.
  
  🔗 https://t.co/wYMZloV7fh pic.twitter.com/m6GpSmEgHg

  — HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) May 1, 2025

Rocket Arsenal Crippled, Terror Factories Repurposed

Hamas’s long-range rocket stockpiles have been reduced to shadows of their former potency. The IDF has destroyed hundreds of launchers, dismantled production facilities, and killed or captured key operatives. Still, the group continues to improvise crude weapons from unexploded Israeli ordnance, reflecting both ingenuity and desperation.

Diplomacy Shifts: Hamas Hints at Surrender

For the first time since October 7, Hamas has shown cracks in its once rigid negotiating stance. The group has reportedly floated:

• A 70-day temporary ceasefire

• Conditional willingness to relinquish political control of Gaza

• A proposal to halt future weapons development, though it insists on keeping its current arsenal

This apparent concession is seen as a direct result of Israel's sustained military pressure and the regional collapse of Hamas’s support system.

Axis of Evil Fractured

The regional web supporting Hamas—the so-called “Axis of Resistance”—is beginning to fray:

• Hezbollah faces internal political restraints in Lebanon

• Syria’s Assad regime is on the verge of renewed internal collapse

• Iraqi Shiite militias are lying low under U.S. pressure

• Judea & Samaria, especially Jenin, is seeing enhanced IDF operational freedom

• Only Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen remain militarily engaged, launching missiles and threatening shipping in the Red Sea

  At the Jerusalem Post Conference in New York, Economy Minister Nir Barkat called Qatar a “wolf in sheep’s clothes,” accusing it of using vast wealth to gain influence while backing Hamas as part of an “evil axis” with Iran. https://t.co/KzD94Qe5sI

  — The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) May 27, 2025

Humanitarian Crisis and Hamas’s Waning Grip

Inside Gaza, growing hunger, despair, and fatigue are weakening Hamas’s grip. While the group continues to rule by fear in parts of the enclave, in others, Palestinians are openly calling for an end to Hamas's rule and the conflict.

Israel, meanwhile, has begun trialing direct-aid delivery mechanisms aimed at bypassing Hamas’s blockade on humanitarian relief—marking a significant step toward decoupling aid from terror.

Israel’s Mission Remains Unfinished

Despite these advances, Israel’s war goal is far from complete. The 58 Israeli hostages still held in Hamas’s underground hell remain a scar on the national psyche. Some may return alive. Others may come home in coffins. But none will be forgotten.

As one senior defense official said, “This war will not be over until the last Israeli is brought home. Hamas may be bleeding, but we will not stop until it is broken.”

The Takeaway

Hamas—the organization responsible for the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust—has been strategically decapitated, regionally abandoned, and left clinging to tunnels and terror. Its days are numbered. But until the last hostage is freed and the tunnel empire dismantled, Israel fights on.