Senior Hamas official says terror group has lost 80% of its control in Gaza

A senior Hamas official told the BBC that the terrorist group has lost around 80% of its control over the Gaza Strip after 21 months of intense fighting with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Speaking on condition of anonymity, he assessed that Hamas has lost most of its active leadership as well as its military and governing capabilities. 

"Let's be realistic here – there's barely anything left of the security structure. Most of the leadership, about 95%, are now dead... The active figures have all been killed," the Hamas official told BBC through voice messages. "So really, what's stopping Israel from continuing this war?" he continued.

"Logically, it has to continue until the end. All the conditions are aligned: Israel has the upper hand, the world is silent, the Arab regimes are silent, criminal gangs are everywhere, society is collapsing," he added. 

In May, the Israeli military eliminated Mohammed Sinwar, one of the last remaining top Hamas terrorist leaders in Gaza. His brother Yahya Sinwar who led the Hamas Oct. 7 massacre, was killed by Israeli forces in a firefight in southern Gaza in October 2024. 

The unnamed Hamas official who spoke with the BBC, was reportedly injured during the first week of the war after the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis in 2023. He is reportedly no longer active in Hamas due to health reasons. 

Many Israel critics worldwide have repeatedly claimed that Hamas cannot be defeated as its ideology is embedded in Gazan society. However, the Hamas official admitted in the interview with the BBC that the terror group has lost most of its command-and-control capabilities. 

"So, the security situation is zero. Hamas's control is zero. There's no leadership, no command, no communication. Salaries are delayed, and when they do arrive, they're barely usable. Some die just trying to collect them. It's total collapse," he assessed.

He depicts the current situation in Gaza as chaotic and lawless. 

"About the security situation, let me be clear: it has completely collapsed. Totally gone. There's no control anywhere," the Hamas official told BBC. 

"People looted the most powerful Hamas security apparatus (Ansar),” a complex that Hamas used to rule Gaza. 

"They looted everything, the offices – mattresses, even zinc panels – and no-one intervened. No police, no security," he continued. 

Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced already in September 2024 that Hamas was severely degraded and had been reduced from a terror army to a guerrilla group. "Hamas as a military formation no longer exists," Gallant claimed.

The Hamas official admitted that the terror group tried to regroup during the 57-day ceasefire with Israel at the beginning of 2025. However, after Hamas refused to release the remaining Israeli hostages, Israel launched in March an ongoing military offensive that has devastated the Jihadist group’s remaining military and political capabilities. 

Last month, the Israeli military’s spokesperson Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin announced that Hamas was in the process of losing control in Gaza. 

“Hamas is losing control. It continues to operate against its own civilians,” Defrin stated, adding that “the distribution of food [by the GHF] severely harms Hamas and its rule. Tens of thousands of meals are distributed daily to Gazans.”

The newly established, American-and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was created to bypass Hamas and deliver humanitarian aid directly to Gaza’s civilian population. Hamas has strongly opposed this initiative, as it further undermines the group's control in the region.

Recent civilian testimonies allege that Hamas militants have deliberately killed civilians at aid distribution sites in an effort to sabotage humanitarian efforts and increase international hostility toward Israel.