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As the Israel Defense Forces resumed military operations last Friday to stamp out the terrorist threat from Hamas, the Biden administration intervened in Israel’s war planning process, threatening the Israelis who have been fighting for survival for decades. I’m trying to teach you how to properly conduct a conflict.
Washington’s war “experts” — who have probably never won a clear military victory since 1945 — say that Israeli military strategists were forced to fight in battles, especially to minimize injuries. It claims to be changing its war plans to make its operations more targeted and its attacks more precise. Civilian.
The Biden administration’s demands sound lofty, but they are misguided and unreasonable. Fulfilling these requirements at the expense of achieving his primary mission of eliminating Hamas and its entire supporting infrastructure would likely prolong the conflict and ultimately lead to the loss of even more Israelis and Palestinians. There is a possibility of death. Here’s why:
Labeling China, Russia, and Iran a new “axis of evil” will not neutralize the threat they pose.
President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will participate in expanded bilateral talks with Israeli and U.S. government officials in Tel Aviv, Wednesday, October 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Hamas is no longer your grandfather’s terrorist organization as it was many years ago. Like many other non-state terrorist organizations, Hamas has benefited from the democratization of technology, which has made it much easier to access weapons, military components, and the know-how needed for indigenous production. . .
As a result, Hamas now has even more lethal and sophisticated weaponry than it had a decade ago. With a much more diverse arsenal, terrorists now look and fight more like regular armies than non-state terrorist groups. This has leveled the battlefield even more than it did during the 2014 Gaza war between Israeli forces and Hamas.
By employing drone warfare, Hamas was able to catch the Israelis by surprise. In the first wave of attacks on October 7, the terrorist group used small tactical drones to attack multiple military targets in Israel, disrupting infrastructure and destroying surveillance towers, cameras, and communications. Terrorists crossed the southern border and killed about 1,200 people. . This element of surprise allowed Hamas to at least temporarily seize the strategic initiative in modern warfare, leaving stunned Israelis scrambling to their own defense.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei met with Hamas Politburo Chairman Ismail Haniyeh on November 5, 2023 in Tehran, Iran. (Photo credit: Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Hamas has modernized its drone arsenal, which now includes the Zuari suicide drone, named after the late Hamas engineer and drone pilot Mohamed Zuari. Ababil-2 Iranian tactical UAV. Misag-1 equipped with a high-performance explosive fragmentation warhead. His AK-103-2 with burst fire configuration, and RAAD-T, according to Army Recognition, OE Data Integration Network, and DroneSec databases.
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Hamas has also significantly improved its indigenous rocket, called Qassam, increasing its range from two to three miles in the first iteration to 10 miles for Qassam 3. Today’s generation of missiles used by Hamas have a range of 150 miles, all over Israel.
Hamas is also a beneficiary of Iranian weapons, technical assistance, and training. In 2020, the State Department said Iran is sending $100 million a year to Palestinian terrorist organizations to arm and train them to attack Israel and kill civilians, as Hamas did on October 7. evaluated.
According to the Wall Street Journal, 500 Hamas terrorists were trained in special combat tactics by the Iranian Quds Force, the foreign operations arm of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in the weeks leading up to the October 7 attack. I received it. During the attack, Hamas used mixed military tactics, synchronizing attacks across air, land, and sea, a fighting style used by regular forces.
Hamas members display rockets during a military parade on the streets of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. (Photo by: Yousef Masoud/SOPA Images/LightRocket, Getty Images)
According to the Wall Street Journal, the death rate for Israelis during the 2023 election campaign is more than double what it was in 2014. Upgrades in weapons and tactics are likely reasons why Hamas has become a far more deadly force and a more formidable threat to the Israeli military than before.
During a recent visit to Tel Aviv, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken told Israeli leaders that “it is our obligation to the United States not to repeat the massive loss of civilian life and displacement in the south that we saw in northern Gaza.” he warned. ” He called for “the development of a clear plan that focuses on protecting civilians and sustaining and strengthening the humanitarian aid flowing into Gaza.”
Israeli Defense Minister Job Galan (R) and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken shake hands before a meeting in Tel Aviv on November 30, 2023. Blinken told Israeli leaders on Nov. 30 that a temporary truce in the war with Hamas was “bearing fruit.” ” should be continued. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
How can Israelis guarantee Washington that civilian deaths will be avoided when Hamas is known to use civilians as human shields? How can the IDF avoid attacks on civilian targets if Hamas uses hospitals as operational command centers and storage facilities for weapons and combat equipment?
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Intentionally or not, what the Biden administration is doing is limiting the IDF’s freedom of action and flexibility of maneuver as Israel seeks to eliminate existential threats to its country.
It is bad enough that Israel has to fight a far more lethal and bloodthirsty enemy who is armed to the teeth. Today, those defending America must fight with one arm tied behind their backs. That’s because Washington, which is almost certainly politically driven, is intent on controlling other people’s wars to the hilt.
Click here to read more from Rebecca Koffler
