It has been nearly six months since Hamas fighters broke through from Gaza into Israel on 7 October, killing about 1,200 people and taking hundreds hostage.<\/p>\n
In response, Israel vowed to “crush and destroy Hamas” so that it no longer posed any threat, and to bring all the hostages home.<\/p>\n
In the brutal war that has followed, at least 33,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and large parts of Gaza have been destroyed.<\/p>\n
Israel says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters and destroyed much of the vast network of tunnels beneath Gaza, which Hamas has used to carry out attacks.<\/p>\n
BBC Verify has combed through public statements and social media posts by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and assessed the evidence behind Israel’s stated aims.<\/p>\n
How many Hamas leaders have been killed?<\/h3>\n
Before 7 October, Hamas was thought to have about 30,000 fighters in Gaza, according to reports quoting IDF commanders.<\/p>\n
Many of Hamas’s senior political figures such as Ismail Haniyeh, widely considered to be the group’s overall leader, live abroad. But many of its military leadership structure are thought to be inside Gaza.<\/p>\n
In a recent statement, the IDF said it had killed about 13,000 Hamas fighters since the start of the war, although it did not say how it calculated that figure.<\/p>\n
Israel also publishes the names of individual Hamas leaders it says have been killed.<\/p>\n
A total of 113 people have been named in this way since October, the overwhelming majority of whom were reported killed in the first three months of the war. By comparison, the Israeli army did not report any senior Hamas leaders killed in Gaza this year until March.<\/p>\n
On 26 March, the IDF said it had killed Marwan Issa, deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing. Considered one of Israel’s most-wanted men, he would be the group’s most senior leader to be killed since the war began. The US has said it believes he was killed, but Hamas has not confirmed it.<\/p>\n
The IDF publishes names of individuals who it says are senior Hamas leaders who have been killed, but it is not possible to verify whether they belong to Hamas. One of those named in this category was Mustafa Thuraya, who was working as a freelance journalist in southern Gaza when his vehicle was hit in January.<\/a><\/p>\n We also found duplicate names in the list, which we have discounted from the total.<\/p>\n