A New York Times report discussed the question of how many rockets Hamas still has in Gaza in the wake of the large barrage launched at Netivot on Tuesday. The rockets were launched from an area of the Gaza Strip where IDF troops just withdrew from yesterday, a fact that elicited much criticism from government ministers and the public. In a report entitled Hamas Rocket Barrage Stirs Debate in Israel Over Direction of War, the Times said that “Israeli military analysts say the army has significantly degraded the rocket-launching capabilities of Hamas and other, smaller terrorist groups in Gaza since the beginning of the war, but has not eliminated them — a process they said could take months, if not longer, to complete.” “’The continued firing of rockets tells us that we haven’t finished our mission,’ Yaakov Amidror, a retired general who served as national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, said in an interview. ‘There are still areas that we need to clean up.'” “Before the war, the Israeli military estimated that Hamas and other groups in Gaza had an arsenal of over 10,000 rockets, but officials have said recently that well over 12,000 have been fired at Israel during the war.” “How many remain in the hands of Hamas and its allies is unclear. Israel Ziv, a retired general who formerly commanded Israeli forces in Gaza, told the Reuters news agency that 10 percent to 15 percent of Hamas’s prewar rocketry corps of some 1,000 terrorists were believed to be still alive and that the group had around 2,000 rockets remaining.” “On Monday, the Israeli military withdrew a division from northern Gaza, part of a broader drawdown of forces aimed, in part, at relieving the war’s strain on Israel’s economy. After the rocket barrage on Tuesday morning, right-wing members of Mr. Netanyahu’s wartime government called for an urgent re-examination of that decision.” “Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister, said the decision to withdraw some soldiers was ‘a serious, grave error that will cost lives.’ Mr. Ben-Gvir, one of Mr. Netanyahu’s most hawkish allies, has called for Israel to reoccupy Gaza indefinitely.” “The rocket barrage ‘proves that conquering Gaza is essential to realizing the war’s goals,’ Mr. Ben-Gvir said in a statement.” “In the first weeks of the war, Hamas-led terrorists had fired near-constant dozens of rockets across Israel, sending scores of Israelis rushing to fortified shelters. But the rocket fire has slowed down as Israel’s aerial bombardment and ground offensive have worn on, and as Israeli forces have conquered large swathes of Gaza.” “A Hamas official said the slowdown was a strategic decision, not a sign of a severely depleted arsenal, adding that the group had sufficient weapons to keep fighting for many months.” “’It’s quite clear this war will carry on for a long time,’ said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the news media. ‘It’s common sense that they are not going to launch everything they have now.'” “Israel’s goals ‘have proven to be fantasies,’ he said, adding, ‘The strike on Netivot today is proof that Israel’s strategy isn’t working.'” “On Monday, Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, said that Israel had concluded its ‘intensive’ ground operations in northern Gaza and would soon wrap up that stage […]