Little doubt exists that Hamas suffered heavy losses while facing a determined and prolonged Israeli offensive using far superior technology and numbers, Zoran Kusovac writes for Al Jazeera.

It is also likely a significant number of commanders and deputies have been killed.

But Israel has never openly claimed Hamas forces in the north have been destroyed. It has talked about “elimination of senior commanders” and mentioned “dismantling” — a vague and PR-friendly term — but not “destruction” or “defeat”.

Read the full analysis here.