12/15/2023–|Last updated: 12/16/202301:10 AM (Mecca time)
Until this moment, the death toll of the Israeli occupation army during its aggression against Gaza has reached more than double its death toll during the ground attack in 2014, which reflects the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)’s effective use of street warfare tactics and the diversification of its military arsenal.
Hamas used a large stock of weapons, in addition to its knowledge of the precise terrain of the Strip, and on top of that the presence of an extensive tunnel network, all of which enabled it to transform the streets of Gaza into a deadly maze for the Israeli occupation soldiers.
A Reuters report says that the weapons possessed by Hamas range from drones loaded with bombs to anti-tank weapons with powerful double explosive charges.
Since the start of the Israeli ground campaign late last October, the occupation army has acknowledged the killing of 124 soldiers, more than half of whom are officers, while in 2014 it admitted the killing of only 66 soldiers.
Reuters interviewed an Israeli military commander and military analysts, in addition to a source in the Hamas movement, regarding the ground battles in the Gaza Strip.
Yaakov Amedro, a retired general in the Israeli army and a former security advisor who now works at the US National Security Institute, says that there is no comparison between what is happening today and the 2014 war, pointing out that the Israeli army “did not find a good solution for the tunnels,” whose network expanded significantly during last decade.
Fierce fighting
Reuters says that Hamas published video clips showing fighters carrying cameras on their bodies and moving through buildings to fire hand-held missiles at Israeli military armor.
The agency adds that one of these videos – published on December 7, was from the Shujaiya area, east of Gaza City – where both sides of the fighting reported violent clashes.
He quoted a Hamas source from inside Gaza – who requested to remain anonymous – as saying that the fighters “move very close to the enemy forces to carry out ambushes, taking advantage of the land that we know as others do not,” and they often move or appear from tunnels.
For his part, an Israeli commander who participated in 2014 said that expanding the scope of this operation meant there were more forces on the ground, giving Hamas “defender advantages,” so higher casualties among Israeli forces were expected.
Israeli Channel 12 showed an army reserve unit warning of booby-trapped doors, breaking the wall of a building to enter a room and discovering an ammunition store.
The occupation army also published pictures on social media showing roads that had been bulldozed in built-up areas using bulldozers so that soldiers could avoid existing roads that may contain landmines.
Hamas is strengthening
“Hamas has taken huge steps to strengthen its forces since 2014,” says Eyal Benko, who was a senior official in the Israeli intelligence services and now works at the Bar-Ilan Center for Strategic Studies at Begin-Sadat University.
He points out that the movement has obtained some advanced weapons, such as Russian-designed Kornet anti-tank missiles “with help from Iran.”
He adds that Hamas has also mastered building other weapons in Gaza, such as rocket-propelled grenade launchers (RPG-7), and the fighters now have a larger ammunition stockpile.
Articles published by Hamas mention that its arsenal includes “tandom” type anti-tank weapons that carry two armor-piercing charges, which was confirmed by Pinko.
But Alexander Greenberg, a former Israeli intelligence officer at the Institute for Strategy and Security in Jerusalem, concludes by saying, “Hamas may adopt new tactics, but in principle, it is still a resistance movement engaged in street warfare.”
