A senior IDF officer told the Wall Street Journal that it could take months before the IDF takes control of southern Gaza, longer than expected, according to a WSJ article published on Sunday. Hamas’s use of guerrilla tactics is causing casualties to mount among Israeli troops, with 154 Israeli soldiers killed since the ground invasion began in Gaza.
At least 16 soldiers were killed across Gaza in the last three days. The military is currently focused on killing Hamas leaders, as well as destroying Hamas infrastructure, including its extensive tunnel networks.
The mounting death toll has led to some internal criticism that Israel is endangering soldiers by not using as much force in response to US demands to reduce civilian casualties. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied reducing force as a result of American pressure.
Over the weekend, eight Israeli soldiers were killed in total by explosive devices as well as by an antitank missile fired at an armored vehicle. Five were killed on Friday in battles throughout Gaza, and two more were also killed on Saturday.
This high death toll highlights the challenges of ridding Gaza of Hamas, who stage guerrilla attacks and launch rockets from populated areas.
The IDF told the Wall Street Journal that it is finding more military infrastructure than expected in southern Gaza. A senior Israeli officer said, “Their modus operandi is now to harass our soldiers and then go back into the tunnels.”
Hamas' strategy in the war
The officer also said that Hamas is using women and children to gather intelligence and move weapons around. Hamas is also storing weapons in hundreds or thousands of empty homes.
Its fighters move around freely, dressed as civilians, retrieve weapons at the last moment from these houses, and then attack. In spite of its broken core command infrastructure, a result of three months of airstrikes and two months of ground operations, it's still able to mount effective guerrilla attacks.
Michael Milshtein, a former senior Israeli military intelligence officer, said in reference to Hamas, “We’re speaking about half a guerrilla and half an army.”
Some in Israel believe that by increasing airstrikes, it would be possible to reduce the number of Israeli soldier deaths by removing the danger to advancing troops, such as booby-trapped buildings, but also likely lead to more civilian deaths among Gazans. The Israeli military says that ground troops in Gaza are fully covered by air support and ground-based firepower.
Israel has more boots on the ground in Khan Younis than they had in northern Gaza, so there are less widespread airstrikes to avoid harming Israeli troops, a senior Israeli officer commanding forces in Khan Younis said. He says that Israel has four bridges operating in the center of Khan Younis and an additional two forming a defensive perimeter around the Israeli positions as well as bolstering logistical support.
He also said that the army sometimes sends troops into a building before it is destroyed to gather intelligence.
Israeli officials say they are getting ready to transition to the third phase of the war, where Israel will redeploy many of its troops along the border with Gaza and rely on targeted raids to finish the goals of the war, including destroying Hamas’s ability to attack Israel from Gaza and free the hostages. Israel believes Hamas is holding hostages within its tunnel network.
Many experts disagree with this move's timing, saying it is premature. Retired Israeli general and former National Security Council head Uzi Dayan says that if Israel withdraws its ground forces from Hamas strongholds, eliminating tunnels “won’t be difficult, it would be impossible.” He continued, “Without full control over territory above ground, we can’t control what happens below ground.”
Dayan said that Israel’s public, however, which initially gave unprecedented support to the campaign to eliminate Hamas, is growing weary of war losses and that they want to see the end of this soon.