Hamas’s Underground Warfare Tactics: A Strategic Analysis

Hamas’s Tactical Manual for Underground Warfare

Hamas’s comprehensive handbook for underground combat provides an intricate blueprint for navigating the darkness, enabling fighters to move stealthily beneath Gaza while effectively utilizing automatic weapons in confined spaces for maximum impact. This meticulous guide details strategies for engaging in warfare within the labyrinth of tunnels that extend throughout the region.

Battlefield commanders were instructed to meticulously time, down to the very second, the duration required for their fighters to traverse between various strategic points underground. This emphasis on precision reflects a broader and well-orchestrated effort by Hamas to develop a robust underground military infrastructure capable of enduring sustained attacks and impeding Israeli ground operations within the shadowy confines of the tunnels.

Just a year prior to the assault on Israel, Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, sanctioned an expenditure of $225,000 to install fortified blast doors designed to shield the militia’s tunnel network from aerial bombardments and ground incursions. The document detailing this approval revealed that Hamas brigade commanders had conducted thorough assessments of the subterranean tunnels in Gaza, pinpointing critical locations both underground and at the surface that warranted significant fortification.

These records, in conjunction with interviews conducted with military experts and Israeli commanders, elucidate the reasons behind Israel’s ongoing struggle to achieve its strategic goal of dismantling Hamas nearly a year into the conflict. The challenges posed by a well-prepared and strategically fortified tunnel network have proven to be formidable obstacles in the face of Israel’s military objectives.