Toppling Hamas might not be possible without an occupation
IN THE 18 years since withdrawing from the Gaza strip, Israel has invaded it twice. The first occasion was Operation Cast Lead, which involved a 15-day ground invasion in January 2009. The second was Operation Protective Edge in 2014, in which the Israel Defence Forces spent 19 days on the ground. A third ground invasion, in response to the massacre of Israeli civilians by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza, is imminent.
Locating their entrances and dropping in explosives will be a priority. The biggest challenge will be urban warfare, a notoriously messy business. In 2014 Hamas used small but heavily armed assault squads, equipped with machine guns, anti-tank guided missiles and grenades, and sometimes wearing IDF uniforms, to inflict casualties on even the best Israeli and armoured formations, according to a study by the RAND Corporation, a think-tank.
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