Mobile bomb shelters for Hamas.
Via JPost
Israel’s decision to launch a ground offensive provides it with an important advantage in the war against Hamas.
A ground maneuver gives the IDF the ability to move in enemy territory, destroying targets from up close, while still deploying firepower from the air throughout.
It is a concept as old as Israeli military history. Today, however, Hamas represents the asymmetrical enemy that defines combat in our times.
Hamas is an expert at embedding itself in the midst of the Palestinian civilian population and using it as human shields, to seek immunity from the army.
In recent days, IDF sources reported spotting Hamas gunmen boarding ambulances in Gaza filled with children.
Hamas urged residents of northern Gaza to remain in their homes, and provide cover for its concentration of rocket launch squads in that area.
These tactics are designed to provide the terrorist organization with protection from the IDF.
They are the same tactics that have prevented the air force from destroying all of Hamas’s rocket infrastructure, hidden deep under residential buildings, or targeting its leadership, which is hiding under the Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
Hamas spread out its assets across Gaza, and there is no one center of gravity for the IDF to target.
The military operation is complex and long, and the IDF’s focus on destroying tunnels is only the first stage of the ground maneuver.
Despite their tactics, Hamas and Islamic Jihad are in trouble. They have lost more than half of their rockets supply – some 40 percent have been destroyed in air force attacks and another 1,700 rockets have been fired at Israel. Many rockets remain, but the supply is beginning to dwindle.
Military sources said significant gains have already been made on the ground. Rockets continue to be destroyed from the air, as are enemy command and control centers.