Despite having a highly-advanced military, on the ground in Gaza Israeli soldiers will be facing off with Hamas in scenarios that could make some of their weapons obsolete and work in the militants' favour.
It is expected to escalate and prolong the war, make it much more devastating for both sides, and result in mass civilian casualties.
Israel is preparing to carry out a ground operation with a mission to "destroy Hamas". But what then? What is the political reality and make-up of Gaza and what would it look like without Hamas?There has been no word on how many ground troops might enter Gaza, but Israel Defense Force spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, on Sunday said they were "gradually expanding the ground activity and the scope of our forces in the Gaza Strip".
"You can simply attach the warhead of a rocket launcher — which exist in hundreds of thousands across the Middle East — and fly it into an armoured vehicle." While Iran and Syria have smuggled rockets to Gaza in the past, many now appear to have been locally produced, Jean-Loup Samaan, a senior research fellow at the University of Singapore's Middle East Institute, said."The big unknown is how many rockets and drones Hamas may have in storage."Ali Baraka, head of Hamas National Relations Abroad, said in an interview with Russia Today's Arabic news channel RTArabic that the militant group has been preparing for two years.
There are now "Iranian knock-off versions of those Russian systems," Dr Hellyer said, which the group likely has access to.Hamas claimed it fired around 5,000 rockets in 20 minutes in its October 7 attack, which is almost more than the amount used in the 11-day Gaza conflict in 2021.
ANALYSIS: A confronting question that needs an answer: Is the killing of almost 1,000 children a week self-defence?An Israeli invasion of Gaza will face an enemy that has built a formidable armoury, dug a vast tunnel network to evade attackers and shown in past ground wars it can exact a heavier toll on Israeli troops each time.
Israel has a small number of GBU-28 "bunker buster" bombs, which Dr Samaan said could prove useful to destroy Hamas tunnels. But eradicating Hamas might not be possible, and the high civilian and troop casualties will likely further fuel the criticisms already being directed at Israel.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Israel-Hamas war live: Gaza phone and internet cut off as Israel intensifies bombardmentIsrael knocks out territory’s communications as it says it is ‘expanding’ ground operations in Gaza; UN general assembly passes resolution calling for truce
Read more »
Israel-Hamas conflict: Israel has no choice but to destroy HamasThe Western world shirks difficult decisions out of misguided equivocating. Israel can have no such qualms.
Read more »
Israel Gaza: Israel enters ‘second stage of war’ as ground forces enter GazaIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ‘the war inside Gaza is going to be long’; Gulf states condemn Israeli ground operation. Follow updates here.
Read more »