# How large is Hamas? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 17, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-large-is-hamas/641266 "2012-11-17T01:46:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ecoaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/85e7bf/32.png) [@ecoaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ecoaster)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-large-is-hamas/641266/1 "2012-11-17T01:46:16Z")
Can’t seem to find any sources for how large an organization they are…any help? If Israeli troops invaded Gaza, would they be facing hundreds or thousands of armed Palestinians? ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-large-is-hamas/641266/2 "2012-11-17T02:29:45Z")
> [@ecoaster](#): > > Can’t seem to find any sources for how large an organization they are…any help? > > If Israeli troops invaded Gaza, would they be facing hundreds or thousands of armed Palestinians? Not sure but really none of these countries in middle east other than may be Iran can do any thing to harm Israel .They normally provoke Israel and than Israel respond aggressively and than cry about it on news. If Israel really wanted to they could send most of those countries back to stone age. It does not really metter if there are hundreds or thousands there no threat to Israel army. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-large-is-hamas/641266/3 "2012-11-17T02:44:11Z")
> **[Hamas | Military wing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamas#Military_wing)** > > The Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades is Hamas's military wing. By the time of the Al-Aqsa Intifada, Hamas's laboratories had devised a primitive form of rocketry, the Qassam 1, which they first launched in October 2000, carrying a 500 g (18 oz) warhead with a throw range of 4 km (2.5 mi). Both propellant and the explosive were manufactured from chemical fertilizers, though TNT was also tried. Over the next five years of the conflict, a 3 kg (6.6 lb)-warhead-armed version with a strike range of Whil... “While the number of members is known only to the Brigades leadership, Israel estimates the Brigades have a core of several hundred members who receive military style training, including training in Iran and Syria.[46] Additionally, the brigades have an estimated 10,000 operatives “of varying degrees of skill and professionalism” who are members of Hamas or their supporters and the internal security forces. These operatives can be expected to reinforce the Brigades in an “emergency situation”.” For comparison: > **[Hezbollah | Armed strength](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hezbollah#Armed_strength)** > > Hezbollah does not reveal its armed strength. The Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre estimated that Hezbollah's armed wing comprises 1,000 full-time Hezbollah members, along with a further 6,000–10,000 volunteers. According to the Iranian Fars News Agency, Hezbollah has up to 65,000 fighters. It is often described as more militarily powerful than the Lebanese Army. Israeli commander Gui Zur called Hezbollah "by far the greatest guerrilla group in the world". > In 2010, Hezbollah was believed to have... “Hezbollah has not revealed its armed strength. It has been estimated by Mustafa Alani, security director at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Centre that Hezbollah’s military force is made up of about 1,000 full-time Hezbollah members, along with a further 6,000–10,000 volunteers.” Israel has had a bit of difficulty with Hezbollah in the past. [2006 Lebanon War - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_war_in_Lebanon) If Israel were willing to do to Gaza what the Russians did to Grozny in 1999-2000, they could have an easy time although they would have to commit a lot of resources, kill a lot of civilians, devastate the city and they would still likely have hundreds of killed and a few thousand wounded IDF personnel.