The Israeli Defense Force told Newsweek at a press briefing on Wednesday that it has killed roughly half of the Hamas fighters initially in Gaza since the start of the almost eight-month long conflict.

"The total amount of forces of Hamas before the war is around 30,000 or so," a spokesperson for the IDF said to the outlet. "We understand based on our assessments, based on forces reporting and strikes that we've conducted, around 15,000 have been killed in engagements with the IDF."

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas launched a surprise attack on civilians and slaughtered 1,200 people and took more than 250 as hostages. Two weeks later, Israel responded with an air and ground campaign designed to clear the many tunnels in Gaza of militants and force the release of the hostages. Of the 253 hostages taken by Hamas, dozens remain in Gaza with many presumed dead. Israel claims at least 290 IDF personnel have been killed since the start of the conflict.

Hamas spokesperson Bassem Naim dismissed the IDF numbers telling Newsweek, "These are their numbers, and they are free to write them." When pressed about the actual size of the Hamas military, the outlet was told, "We cannot talk about any numbers."

The IDF is facing widespread international condemnation in the wake of an airstrike over the weekend that killed dozens of civilians. While the White House condemned the loss of life, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Israel had not crossed President Joe Biden's "red line."

Biden has threaten to cut off the supply of some weapons to Israel if they mount a major offensive in Rafah.

Hamas released a statement on Wednesday going directly at the Biden Administration's handling of the conflict.

"We hold the U.S. administration, as well as the Zionist occupation, responsible for these horrific massacres, and demand it to halt its policy of double standards and halt also its partnership in killing the Palestinians," the Hamas statement said, "as this is a historical responsibility that will pursue it along all those who are complicit in killing of innocent children and defenseless civilians, no matter how long it takes."

The IDF has described their latest Rafah offensive as "limited in scope and scale" and seeks to maintain "steady progress in targeted precise operations against the terrorist infrastructure of Hamas in the Rafah area."

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