Retired Israeli Major General Yitzhak Brick has challenged the Israeli Defense Forces' claim of nearly destroying Hamas in Gaza. In a recent opinion piece, Brick stated that Hamas currently has around 40,000 fighters, the same as before the war began. He emphasized that Hamas fights with guerrilla tactics from tunnels and was never a conventional army, making claims of its military destruction unrealistic. Brick warned that this resurgence signals a potentially prolonged conflict ahead for Israel, raising doubts about official military statements.