The Israeli fears in this analytical article on an Israeli website are well founded! It is the Gazan Victory Parade once a long term ceasefire begins which is Israel's perhaps biggest fear and concern!!
Some quotes:
Hamas escalates attacks on Israel, aiming to pressure through low-level insurgency in Gaza. It targets IDF corridor, holds hostages to manipulate negotiations.
www.jpost.com
Hamas continues to dictate the next stage of the Gaza war, both in its own view and in how it holds the world hostage by not agreeing to a hostage deal.
After Hamas violated the first hostage deal in December, it gambled that Israel would not keep up the military pressure on its terrorists in Gaza. Hamas now believes it has been proven correct. It thinks it can basically outlast Israel in Gaza.
On April 30,
Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad were both quoted in the pro-Iran al-Mayadeen media describing their continued attacks on Israel in Gaza. For instance, terrorists fired rockets at Sderot at the end of Passover, just before sunset on April 29. In addition, rockets were fired toward Ashdod, landing in the sea.
...
The goal of Hamas and other Iranian-backed groups in Gaza is to keep up the pressure on Israel. This is carried out through rocket attacks that have been much reduced since the volleys of thousands in October but continue to pose a threat.
The terror groups also understand that firing one rocket at Sderot, is basically the same as firing a dozen, if the goal is to get people in the city to have to seek shelter due to sirens.
The goal is to continue to harass the Israeli border communities to remind them that Hamas is still active. Hamas knows that this kind of low-level rocket fire and other threats to the border communities make life there unsettling. For instance, it is clear that Hamas and other terror groups purposely escalate over Jewish holidays and on Shabbat with rocket fire and other threats.
Hamas is proud of the fact that after almost seven months of war, it continues to have rocket fire capabilities and also that it can continue to carry out attacks across
the Gaza Strip.
Hamas has returned to much of Gaza because IDF forces left areas they were operating in, enabling Hamas to return. While terrorist infrastructure, such as tunnels were removed, Hams gunmen continue to operate.
..
Overall, the picture is clear. The Palestinian terror groups want to create the conditions for a low-level, low-intensity insurgency in Gaza. The Hamas battalions have been dispersed and gone to the ground. Israel has claimed it defeated around 18 of the Hamas battalions, and only six remain; two of them in central Gaza and four in Rafah.
However, this is pre-October six thinking because Hamas has changed its tactics. Hamas is also likely replacing its terrorists that were lost in the fighting over almost seven months.
This means that even if Hamas lost up to 20,000 of its terrorists, either as killed or wounded, it can replace some of them. The group is illustrating its staying power. It had already gone through several rounds of rebuilding its networks, as it did in Shifa Hospital between January and March when up to 1,000 of its terrorists were found there. It has also sought to return to Shati, Zaytoun, Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahia, and other areas in northern Gaza.
