ANALYSIS – On Friday, Israel launched one of the biggest aerial and missile bombardments of Hamas positions to date. This, after conducting limited, and quick, armored ‘thunder run' raids into Gaza, and as the army announced it would be invading with a larger ground force Friday night.
We have yet to see if this is true or military deception to keep Hamas guessing.
As I reported earlier, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) is now using new precision 120 mm mortar rounds called ‘Iron Sting' to better target Hamas bunkers and limit civilian casualties.
It is also expected to use another unique device in its expected deadly battle in the Hamas underground tunnel maze, which I will describe down below. Hamas has integrated underground warfare into its overall military strategy, and that is where the toughest fighting will occur.
The New York Post reported: “Ground forces are “expanding their operations tonight,” Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters shortly after Gaza lost power and internet access.”
The admiral also suggested people “not to pay attention to the rumors” that a ground invasion was delayed to allow time to free hostages, calling it a “cynical exploitation by Hamas.”
The Post continued:
Hours earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant vowed that the Jewish state would launch a “long and difficult” ground offensive soon in its efforts to destroy Hamas.
He said the military is preparing for a campaign that would require dismantling a vast network of underground tunnels in the country's efforts to “dismantle Hamas.”
“We are responding with fire and creating the conditions for the ongoing war,” Gallant said, according to the Guardian. “There will also be other stages.”
While fighting on the ground will be tough as Hamas terrorists have prepared fortified defensive positions, the battle beneath Gaza, through the tunnels known as the “Gaza Metro,” will be the most dangerous for Israeli troops.
As I described earlier, the terrorist tunnel network is thought to be hundreds of miles long and dense with deadly booby traps.
It is also where Hamas is holding many of the 200 kidnapped Israeli and foreign hostages and where its bloodthirsty leaders hope to ambush the most Israeli troops.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces have one extremely novel device to counter Hamas in its own tunnels. As the Telegraph reported: “Israel will use novel ‘sponge bombs' as it fights through the network of Hamas tunnels under Gaza.”
The chemical ‘bombs' aren't really bombs since they contain no explosives. The so-called “sponge bombs” create a sudden ‘explosion' of foam that rapidly expands and then hardens.
They will be used to seal off gaps or tunnel entrances where terrorists may be waiting to ambush. They could also suffocate Hamas terrorists like rats.
The IDF was seen deploying the devices during exercises in 2021. The army has set up a mock tunnel system at the Tze'Elim army base near the border with Gaza.
The Telegraph reported that John Spencer, the chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, says subterranean fighting is “more like fighting underwater than fighting in buildings.”
“Nothing that is used on the surface works in the same way or with the same efficiency underground.”
“Specialised equipment is needed to see, to breathe, to navigate, to map the space, to communicate and to deploy lethal means.”
Fortunately, as the Telegraph added, Israel has other unique devices and specialized equipment and troops to give them an edge in the upcoming brutal tunnel fight:
Specialised teams in the IDF's engineering corps have been grouped into tunnel reconnaissance units and equipped with ground and aerial sensors, ground penetrating radar and special drilling systems to locate tunnels.
They have also been issued with special equipment to see when underground.
Standard issue night vision goggles need an element of ambient light to work effectively, but with all natural light blocked out when moving underground, troops will rely on thermal technology to see in the total darkness.
Novel radios, optimised for working in the extreme conditions experienced underground, have also been developed.
We may soon see how well this technology and training will help Israel defeat Hamas while limiting casualties, both to themselves and Gazan civilians.
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