thread by Hillel Fuld re Isreal vs hamas April 4, 2024
1/ Trigger warning!!
This is a very unpopular opinion that will surely anger a lot of people.
One of the things that has bothered me most about this war is the fact that it’s taking us this long to wipe out Hamas.
After all the wars we won against multiple armies, some of which took just days, how is it that we’re this many months in to a war against a terrorist organization and not even an army?
3/ The IDF hasn’t changed, the nature of war has changed.
Mark my words. Not only will Israel win this war, but Israel is establishing itself as we speak as the global authority on urban warfare. All countries will be turning to Israel in the future to learn how to fight a war in the 21st century.
So why is it taking so long?
Well, for a lot of reasons.
Let’s start with the enemy.
Wars have rules. Rules of engagement. Certain things can’t be done in war. There are war crimes.
On our side? ~ Ignoring human shields and attacking anyway? ❌ ~ Flattening the hospital that’s hosting the terror base? ❌ ~ Bombing nurseries from which our enemies attack? ❌ ~ Destroying kids rooms because they are storing weapons and ammunition? ❌
So you see, we’re playing chess and they’re playing basketball.
They have their own rules and we won’t play by their rules. They sure as heck won’t play by ours.
9/ Air Force, all with a clear target and a clear mission.
Now forget all of that.
There is no battlefield. There is no clear target. There is a clear mission but total lack of clarity of how to finish this mission because there are surprises waiting for the soldiers at every corner.
The separation between civilian buildings and military structures does not exist. The battlefield here is one of the most densely populated areas in the world and that is Hamas’ best weapon, its own people.
8/ They created a full blown underground system that is larger than the London Underground.
Add to that, that Hamas had decades to prepare for Israel’s ground invasion. Setting up traps in tunnels, elaborate hiding places, and more. They had all the time and money in the world to ensure a maximum number of IDF casualties.
But it doesn’t end there. Not even close.
Again, imagine the old school battlefield. Or if you want to look at more modern wars, there are tanks, artillery, infantry, and
10/ Again, we’re playing chess, where the objective of the game is to minimize civilian death and maximize the elimination of terrorists. They’re playing basketball where the objective of the game is to maximize civilian deaths thereby getting the world to pressure Israel to withdraw and end the war.
IDF soldiers in Gaza are facing unprecedented complexity that has never been seen in the history of wars.
Think about it.
They can’t walk a single inch without the threat of an attack.
11/ They could be attacked from above using an RPG or a sniper. They could be attacked from below using grenades and automatic weapons. They could be attacked using anti tank and anti aircraft missiles from within buildings. They can be attacked by walking into a booby trapped structure. And remember, they can’t just fire indiscriminately to clear the area before entering. There might be civilians there. Add to that, Hamas has zero concerns about losing people.
12/ They thrive on it because every single person killed is presented as innocent, a lie the world has completely adopted and used to pressure Israel. So Israel wants minimal death. Hamas wants maximum death. Chess and basketball. Also, we define victory as getting our hostages back and eliminating Hamas. They define victory as literally anything else. If one Hamas terrorist is left alive, in their book, they won this war.
14/ They can give the IDF a Birds Eye view of an area. Drones are a no brainer in a war like this.
The only issue is that no one knows how to maximize the effectiveness of drones without training.
There are endless types of drones.
There are tiny bug size consumer drones. Then there are larger consumer drones that use GPS to maintain stability. Well, that can’t work. So we need to remove the GPS chip from all the drones. Otherwise they pose a threat and can be used against us.
15/ Then there are larger drones that can carry weight. Then there are FPV drones that can fly in much tighter spaces but require more training. Then there are commercial drones. Thermal drones. Long range drones. And the list just goes on and on. And that’s just drones. What about robotics? Robotics are also used extensively in this war. Then there is endless vision tech, some of which was developed by Israeli startups.
17/ and one little mess up can cause an international crisis.
You have one side that wants to minimize civilian death and one side that’ll do anything to maximize it.
You have one side behaving like cockroaches and hiding in every corner and under every rock and you have another side that has to use cutting edge tech to kill the bugs.
The bottom line is this.
What the IDF has accomplished in this war is not only incredible, it is historically unprecedented.