Old article but most still ring true, in thisterrorwar.... including regarding Hezbollah
Extracts:
“Underground Warfare”
Daphne Richemond-Barak, the author of “Underground Warfare” writes in Foreign Policy magazine:
Quote
“Never in the history of tunnel warfare has a defender been able to spend months in such confined spaces
The digging itself, the innovative ways Hamas has made use of the tunnels and the group’s survival underground for this long have been unprecedented”
Underground Hamas vs above ground Israel -- In other words, in this war, 1. Hamas is often underground, the Israelis are often above ground 2. and Hamas seeks to position civilians directly between them
As Barry Posen, a professor at the security studies program at M.I.T. has written,
Quote
Hamas’ strategy
“Hamas’s strategy could be described as ‘human camouflage’ and more ruthlessly as ‘human ammunition’
Hamas’ goal
Hamas’s goal is to maximize the number of Palestinians who die and in that way build international pressure until Israel is forced to end the war before Hamas is wiped out
Hamas’ survival
Hamas’s survival depends on support in the court of international opinion and on making this war as bloody as possible for civilians until Israel relents
The Israelis have not found an easy way to clear and destroy the tunnels
Richemond-Barak writes, currently, Israel Defense Forces units IDF 1. clear the ground around a tunnel entrance 2. and then they send in robots, drones and dogs to detect explosives and enemy combatants 3. Then units trained in underground warfare pour in
Quote
“It has become clear that Israel cannot possibly detect or map the entirety of Hamas’s tunnel network"
For Israel to persuasively declare victory, in Richemond-Barak's view,
Quote
"Israel must destroy at least two-thirds of Hamas’s known underground infrastructure”
