US intelligence analysis warns Hamas' influence has grown since its attack on Israel

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Source: CNN

US intelligence analysis warns Hamas’ influence has grown since its attack on Israel

By Katie Bo Lillis, CNN
6 minute read
Published 5:00 AM EST, Thu December 21, 2023

Washington (CNN) — A flurry of new analysis by US intelligence agencies has warned that Hamas’ credibility and influence has grown dramatically in the two months since the October 7 terror attack and the onset of Israel’s military response in the Middle East and beyond.

As Israel’s relentless air campaign has killed thousands of civilians inside Gaza, Hamas – which is designated as a terrorist group by the United States and Europe – has been able to cast itself as the lone armed group fighting back against a brutal oppressor killing women and children. Officials familiar with the different assessments say the group has successfully positioned itself across some parts of the Arab and Muslim world as a defender of the Palestinian cause and an effective fighter against Israel.

Hamas’ growing influence comes in the wake of its ghastly October attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 men, women and children. The US has staunchly defended Israel’s right to defend itself in the wake of the attack, including its campaign to eliminate Hamas entirely.

From Hamas’ perspective, the October 7 attack on southern Israel was a stunning operational success. And in the months since, it has received credit — particularly in the occupied West Bank — for negotiating the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel, in exchange for some of the hostages the group holds from the attack, these sources say.

Meanwhile, Hamas propaganda videos casting the group as highly moral fighters who follow the teachings of Islam – despite the horrific details of the October 7 attack and the descriptions of sexual violence against Israeli women reported by eyewitnesses from that day – coupled with a flood of devastating images of civilian suffering inside Gaza, have gone viral on Arab social media.

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Read more: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/21/politics/us-intelligence-analysis-hamas-influence/index.html