Ever since Yusuf and his family first fled Gaza City earlier this year, he has been shocked at how much of Hamas appears to be intact.
A secular software engineer who encouraged his wife to leave her hair uncovered, the 43-year-old was no fan of the Islamists, who ruled Gaza for nearly two decades as both a social and religious movement promising freedom from Israeli occupation and a tyrannical militant group tolerating little dissent.
By the time Yusuf fled, Israel’s military had already wrested much of Gaza from Hamas’s military wing, killing thousands of its fighters, and would soon assassinate leader Yahya Sinwar. Israeli officials now believe they have destroyed much of the group’s military force.