Inside Ukrainian war front it’s hard to see battle tanks to move freely near the focus of hostilities. The Ukrainians hide their tanks in dense forests to camouflage them and prevent them from being destroyed from the air by the Russian enemy. Around Loop everything is radically different. tall columns Israel Merkava They wait comfortably parked in the sun until the order comes to enter the Strip. Hamas does not have precision aircraft or missiles, just some unmanned aerial vehicles, which do not seem to worry Hamas’ military. Tzeelim baseA place where you can breathe a relaxed atmosphere. power inequality This war between one of the best prepared armies in the world and a guerrilla that has been isolated for years completely asymmetric warfareThis is an advantage that Israel will partially lose if the war progresses to the hundreds of kilometers of tunnels piercing beneath Gaza.
There aren’t a lot of details on how it’s done. Israeli infantry advance from the beginning ground operation a little over a week ago. Their power has penetrated two axes from the north and one third from center. They intend divide the territory for two Isolate all north of the StripIt also includes the capital in which mechanized units currently operate. The only thing that is known for sure is that not a single building remains intact in the areas they control, as shown by foreign television channels embedded in Israel and its troops. First aviation, then infantry, flying everything that comes their way. Moreover 40,000 houses It was completely destroyed and another 220,000 people were damaged, according to UN data.
“Hamas uses civil infrastructure and this makes minimizing damage very difficult. They are shooting rockets from hospitals, schools and mosques“says Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Elbo Search From the base of Tzeelim. Your Minister of Defense, Joab Brave, expressed this in other words. “The whole city is one major terrorist base“He said this week in an attempt to justify the indiscriminate nature of the attack, which disregarded the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law. proportionality or the distinction between military and civilian targets.
Long and complex war
All this facilitates the attack, which has two stated goals: saving those nearby. 240 hostages to be. “This doesn’t just mean lots of aerial bombardmentas precisely as possible, but when you enter from land, clear every buildingevery floor, every room and in every basement,” the general told him recently David Petraeus He was also the director of the CIA. All experts agree that this will be necessary to achieve these goals. long and complex warat least a few months.
HE Pentagon It had been warning Israel for weeks that its forces in Gaza would face a scenario similar to that faced by the United States and its Iraqi allies. MosulCity in Iraq that was captured by the Islamic State and serves as the capital of the extinct caliphate. A city of almost two million people in peacetime. With an addition that further complicates its mission: close 500 kilometers of tunnel built by armed groups In Gaza, where Hamas is believed to be located command centers, weapons depots and to the hostages captured during the unprecedented attack that started this war.
Some tunnels are more complex than those used by the United States. Vietnamese To repel the US invasion. With reinforced concrete wallsthousands of inputs and outputs gallery maze According to ‘The New York Times’ it is approximately 2000 meters deep. “In this area, Hamas has the advantage,” writes Foreign Policy expert Daphne Richemond-Barak. “The tunnels neutralize Israel’s military capabilities and serve to balance forces. To all this we must also add: decoy bombssnipers, suicidesAnti-tank missiles and ambushes implemented by Hamas. This predicts a complex war. If Mosul is a reference, it took the least There are nine months left until autumn.
Differences between the battle of Mosul and Gaza
Parallels with Gaza are many, but there are also some important differences. Anthony King, Professor of War Studies at the University of Warwick, UK. The struggle there was led by 94,000 Iraqi soldiersIt is closely supported by the United States and its allies in the coalition against ISIS. Israel in this war 169,000 active soldiers And 300,000 spares mobilized. However, a significant part of these forces are deployed in the region. West Bank And Lebanon border. “So the Israeli Army will have around 100,000 soldiers to blockade and clear Gaza. combat troops They are much smaller. Some commentators have suggested it would be around 20,000. So they probably won’t be enough to clear all of Gaza,” King told this newspaper. Palestinian factions are estimated to have between 20,000 and 40,000 fighters, at least before the war.
Another important difference is that the coalition against ISIS is making “tremendous efforts.” Separate jihadists from the public Mosul, Iraq, is run by “sophisticated information campaigns” that add new men to the resistance groups in the city. “The Israeli Army appears to have completely failed to win the public against Hamas. “Their carelessness in the use of force resulted in the exact opposite outcome,” King said. Israel also does not know how to manage a huge situation. international support It achieved this as a result of a brutal attack by Hamas. And even his closest allies are starting to shout at him to stop killing children and women, as Emmanuel Macron did this week.
The capture of Mosul in July 2017, after nine months of urban wars. The beginning of the end of ISIS. The caliphate as a political entity was severely diminished. Its borders were narrowed and its capital was moved to Raqqa, Syria. “This is very difficult to understand in the Israeli example.” What can I achieve politically?“Even if they manage to clear Hamas from northern Gaza,” says the University of Warwick professor. “They will continue to exist Hamas cells in the southWhere you will likely find more support from those who have been displaced. So the current operation looks something like mission doomed to failure“The king insists.