US: Israel hasn’t completely ‘eliminated the military threat Hamas poses’

Israel has not completely eliminated the threat Hamas poses but has achieved many of its military objectives, according to a top White House spokesperson.

Israeli forces have killed thousands of Hamas fighters and several of the group's leaders and commanders throughout ten months of war, though White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters Monday that he would "not go so far to say they have eliminated the military threat Hamas poses."

Hamas has "fighters alive and fighting," he acknowledged. "There are still tunnels that they use to move about and to store arms and ammunition, and they still have resources available to them. But there has been a tremendous amount of pressure put on Hamas, and from a military perspective, they have definitely achieved the vast majority of their objectives."

Kirby's comments on Israel's degradation of Hamas's military capabilities come as U.S., Israeli, Qatari, Egyptian, and Hamas leaders are renewing discussions about a ceasefire deal. CIA Director William Burns and diplomat Brett McGurk, National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, are in Doha for these talks.

"Today is a promising start, and we'll have more to say over the course of the day," Kirby added, though he said the talks will likely continue into Friday.

On the morning of Oct. 7, thousands of Hamas fighters and other militants broke through the border and killed roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel, many of whom were killed in their houses. Roughly 250 were kidnapped and brought back to Gaza, which makes it the largest terrorist attack in Israel's history. It also sparked the war that continues to devastate the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry said Thursday that the number of deaths killed in Gaza since this war began eclipsed 40,000, though they do not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

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"This is an unverified number provided by none other than Hamas themselves. This time under the guise of the health ministry," the Israel Defense Force said on social media in response to media reporting of Hamas's tally.

Qatar, Egypt, and the United States have desperately sought for several months to get Israel and Hamas to agree to a deal that would end the fighting and secure the release of the remaining Israeli hostages. President Joe Biden detailed the framework of the deal negotiators are trying to get both sides to agree to on May 31, though a deal has continued to elude all sides.