Exclusive: Hamas forms committee to inventory weapons; transfers government employees to military

Hamas has recently formed a special committee composed of field commanders from the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the movement, to inventory its missing weapons from the war. It is believed that some of these weapons remained with members of other Palestinian factions, clan members, and others. Some were lost as a result of being found by the Israeli army. Another portion appears to have remained under the rubble of destroyed homes.

Palestinian sources familiar with the matter revealed to i24news's sister Arabic channel that the committee was overseen by Adham Nesman, a prominent field commander in the al-Qassam-affiliated Gaza Brigade, but he was eliminated in an Israeli airstrike two weeks ago, targeting him in his family's apartment.

The sources indicated that the task was recently assigned to another leader, who has met with officials from armed factions in the Gaza Strip to inspect the weapons in their possession and determine which belong to al-Qassam Brigades so they can be returned to the organization.

Meanwhile, those factions reportedly confirmed that they also possess weapons held by Hamas and al-Qassam members. Some of those weapons were seized by al-Qassam military intelligence operatives.

Sources indicate that the majority of the weapons are light arms, such as Kalashnikovs, M16s, sniper rifles, as well as anti-tank shells and explosive devices.

It was also revealed that Hamas decided to purchase weapons currently held by certain families, clans, arms dealers, and private individuals, in an attempt to consolidate and account for its arsenal.

Hamas has also recently formed a committee to transfer government employees in its Gaza administration who also hold field and security positions within the Al-Qassam Brigades. The group has begun terminating their government jobs and transferring them to the brigades, where they will receive their salaries from al-Qassam. The goal is to have them assume field leadership positions and fill vacancies left by leaders recently killed by Israel.

Hamas and its military wing have lost thousands of fighters in the war with Israel in Gaza. Sources from Gaza said that there is a clear focus on killing military and security leaders from al-Qassam and other factions, and that the Israeli army, in its raids over the days, targets fighters active in a single specific specialty such as the military manufacturing unit, while on other days it targets fighters in other fields such as the rocket unit, or those who were involved in kidnapping Israelis and holding them.