Hamas fights in small guerrilla cells
Israel should spare the civilians in Gaza, demands the international community. However, this could have led to increasing losses in the army. An insider reports that Hamas has also changed its tactics.
Around two months after the start of the Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, the Islamist Hamas is causing increasing losses among Israel's ground troops by switching to guerrilla tactics, according to a media report. As the "Wall Street Journal" reported, citing a senior Israeli officer, the soldiers are now being attacked by cells of just two to five fighters before they dive into their tunnels. They also operated from civilian hideouts and used women and children to gather information and transport weapons, it was said.
Hamas also stores weapons in hundreds of empty houses. This enables its fighters to move around freely, pretend to be civilians and grab weapons at the last moment before an attack. According to the Israeli army, 14 of its soldiers were killed in fighting in the south and center of the cordoned-off coastal strip over the weekend alone. A total of 153 soldiers have been killed since the start of the ground offensive at the end of October, reported the Times of Israel.
Change of tactics after pressure from the USA?
The rising number has led to internal criticism that Israel is endangering its soldiers by scaling back its use of force in response to US demands to limit the number of civilian casualties, writes the Wall Street Journal. However, Israeli security officials and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied a change in tactics due to American pressure.
According to the officer quoted by the Wall Street Journal, who commands a battalion in the fiercely contested southern city of Khans Junis, it could be months before Israel's army gains control of the city in the same way as it did in northern Gaza.
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Hamas' shift to guerrilla warfare in small cells has resulted in higher casualties among Israel's ground troops in the Gaza Strip. International pressure to spare civilians in Gaza may have contributed to Israeli troops facing these tactics, making their mission more challenging.
Source: www.ntv.de
