HAMAS MILITANTS stand guard on the day Hamas transferred deceased captives, in Khan Yunis, Feb. 20, 2025. (photo credit: REUTERS)
“Without a doubt, Hamas will escalate its efforts to seize new captives, including remains of deceased soldiers and citizens,” stated Michael Milshtein, director of Palestinian studies at Tel Aviv University.
Hamas might intensify its endeavors to abduct IDF troops functioning in the Gaza Strip, a Tel Aviv University professor informed the British publication The Guardian on Saturday.
“[There is] no question Hamas will escalate its efforts to seize new captives, including remains of deceased soldiers and citizens,” declared Michael Milshtein, director of the Palestinian studies forum at Tel Aviv University.
This followed the demise of St.-Sgt.-Maj. (res.) Abraham Azulay, 25, in Khan Yunis within the Gaza Strip after militants emerged from a passage and attempted to seize him, the IDF announced Wednesday.
Azulay resisted until the militants shot him, the military conveyed. Troops initiated fire, striking several militants, and prevented the abduction.
However, Hamas’s concentration on a fresh objective of capturing an IDF soldier during operations in the Gaza Strip could present the terror organization with considerable fresh influence during discussions for a truce arrangement and captive liberation, alongside possessing a substantial consequence on public sentiment throughout Israel, The Guardian observed.
Individuals participate in a demonstration urging the liberation of all captives seized during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 massacre, and opposing the Israeli government and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in Tel Aviv, Israel, July 10, 2025. (credit: REUTERS/SHIR TOREM)
“Hamas might free captives to secure a truce, at least temporarily, but is additionally attempting to seize more … thus is indicating that any arrangement will not represent a lasting conclusion to the overall dispute,” Abdeljawad Hamayel, a Ramallah-based political expert, informed The Guardian.
“It’s not solely about acquiring a card to utilize in negotiations but constitutes a crucial element of the psychological conflict. Hamas aims to embolden their own combatants and undermine both Israeli troops in Gaza and civilians in Israel,” added an anonymous Qatar-based Palestinian expert acquainted with Hamas’s strategic conversations.
Hamas might only be deploying a “couple of hundred” militants within the enclave, but this suffices for its strategic objectives, the Qatar-based expert included.
“Hamas only possesses a few cells here, but they exercise considerable caution and precision with their resources,” they stated.
Hamas militants transition towards guerrilla warfare strategies
Furthermore, Hamas militants have undergone a “military evolution” since executing their October 7 massacre, transitioning from a “quasi-conventional force to one tailored for guerrilla warfare,” according to military specialists cited by The Guardian.
“It’s a highly intricate battlefield for the IDF. Hamas are capitalizing on all the debris. They are specialists in guerrilla warfare and have been battling Israel for 20 years,” Guy Aviad, former IDF military historian and Hamas specialist, informed the British outlet.
“We are presently witnessing a form of attritional warfare which is imposing certain constraints on Israel’s power and is additionally exerting some influence on public sentiment across the globe,” Hamayel added.
Moreover, Milshtein observed that Hamas was keen for a truce, but not unconditionally.
“Here in Israel, we have experimented with the notion that escalating pressure on Hamas implies they will [eventually] surrender. Well, how much greater pressure can you envision?,” he questioned.
“We have eliminated their commanders. We have devastated Gaza. But we have not altered the fundamental attitudes and demands of Hamas,” he concluded.
