The Iron Swords War entered its 122nd day today (Wednesday). Dr Omar Dostrian expert in military strategy and national security, a researcher at the “Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security” and the “Securityists” movement, said in a conversation with “Maariv” that even now it remains to say that “the war in Gaza is a historically unprecedented military success.”
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According to him, “With the war in Gaza entering its fifth month, it can already be stated that it appears to be an impressive success in terms of military strategy, and even historically unprecedented – this is subject to the fact that the Israeli government will give the army the green light to complete the mission in Rafah, thus meeting the highest goal it set: dismantling The governmental and military capabilities of Hamas,” he said.
In order to analyze the war in the best way, and to understand the magnitude of the military achievement, Dr. Dostri says that “one must first note the strategic situation of the enemy and the arena in which he operated before it began, as well as the conditions and limitations under which the IDF was forced to operate. First, Hamas has strengthened into a terrorist army for everything, which includes an organized military force and an order of five brigades and about 24 battalions numbering about 40 thousand terrorists who possessed advanced means of warfare, headquarters with technologies and command-and-control systems (SHOB), and a command – and control (PoSh); air, sea, land (including the commando unit – the Nuh’ba) and communication (SVR and electronics) arrays.”
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“Above all, Hamas succeeded in building a network of underground tunnels in Gaza with a length of about a thousand kilometers and depths reaching many tens of meters. These tunnels are used as headquarters, bunkers, munitions warehouses, logistics warehouses, and tactical attack centers inside and outside the Strip. Add about 20,000 rockets and mortar bombs at different ranges,” he added.
According to him, “Secondly, Gaza itself poses a significant challenge to military activity due to the density of the population there, and the existence of many refugee camps. The war in Gaza required professional and precise tactical abilities of fighting in a built-up area and a dense urban space, this when hundreds of thousands of Gazans remained in their place and did not evacuate – both in the north the Strip and in the south.”
Exposing the shafts and the tunnel route (photo: IDF spokesman)
“In addition to that, Hamas and the rest of the IDF’s terrorist organizations use the civilian population as human shields and even as points of attack against IDF soldiers. The ability of Hamas to use the population and civilian buildings allowed the terrorist army to prepare in advance many houses and buildings that were captured for the purpose of withdrawing the IDF and damaging in them, and to plan hiding places for ambushes and sniping in preparation for the IDF’s ground entry into Gaza. In the maneuver itself, and in the IDF’s raids and purges in Gaza, the IDF frequently encountered civilian buildings where tactical weapons and rockets were stored, and civilians – some innocent and some masked terrorists – The operatives are being monitored for Hamas and are even being sent to their deaths for the purpose of distracting the IDF forces in preparation for an onslaught of terrorists towards them,” he emphasized.
He further elaborated that “Another limitation that the IDF had to take into account is the 253 hostages held by Hamas on the eve of the IDF’s ground entry into Gaza. This reality restrained and still restrains the IDF’s use of force both in terms of airstrikes and in terms of maneuver the military, out of natural fear for the safety of the abductees.
It is important to note – there is no army in modern history that has had to operate militarily under such conditions and limitations. Therefore, in the face of these challenges and limitations, the IDF decided on a military strategy of slow, gradual and careful maneuvering – but deep, rooted and professional, inside Gaza. This, after about two weeks of extensive airstrikes, and the softening of the area by artillery and armor. The main objective of the IDF It was to collapse the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas, while preserving as much as possible the lives of the fighters, knowing that Hamas is in fact captured and has nowhere to run.
Within four months, despite the deliberately slow pace, the IDF managed to occupy almost the entire territory of the Gaza Strip, with the exception of Rafah. Of the five Hamas brigades, four have already been disbanded and one (the Rafah Brigade) still remains. Out of 24 battalions of Hamas, 18 have already been defeated. Another one is on the verge of being defeated in Rafah. About 10,000 terrorists were killed and a similar number of terrorists were wounded and put out of action. This means that the IDF destroyed about 60 percent of Hamas’ fighting force. At the same time, the IDF managed to reduce the rocket fire from the Gaza Strip by about 90 percent, with the estimates being that only 1,000 rockets remain in the hands of Hamas and the terrorist organizations.”
Locating the rocket launchers that were fired at Netivot (Photo: IDF spokesperson)
According to him, “Despite the historical military precedent in the IDF’s fighting in Gaza, since the beginning of the ground entry, 225 soldiers have fallen in the Strip (each and every one of them is a world in its own right), in contrast to far-reaching preparations in the IDF and the security establishment. This is a very low number of casualties in a military maneuver ground level in relation to the level and amount of threats and capabilities of the adversary, certainly when it comes to murderous terrorist organizations that do not operate in accordance with the international laws of war.”
“This reality makes the achievements of the IDF in Gaza extremely impressive and historic from a military-strategic point of view, and there is no doubt that they will be studied in colleges and in the training and planning courses of armies in Western countries, and even in other countries. At the same time, the IDF still faces a number of challenges to determine whether the military mission will be completed or not. First, Hamas still has about 20,000 terrorists left at its disposal, so the organization’s military power has not yet been finally decided. In addition, senior Hamas officials still alive, headed by Yahya Sinavar and Muhammad Def. Besides, Israel still has a very long way to go in destroying all the tunnels in Gaza – a process that could take about a year or more.
Above all, if Israel wants to meet the goal it has set – the destruction of the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas – it must allow the IDF to continue fighting and maneuvering in Rafah as well, with an emphasis on taking over and occupying the Philadelphia axis, which is Hamas’ main oxygen conduit when it comes to smuggling weapons.” , Concluded.