Hamas has turned the streets of Gaza into a deadly labyrinth.

Israeli military experts describe how the Hamas group used its large arsenal, knowledge of the terrain, and extensive network of tunnels to turn the streets of Gaza into a deadly labyrinth.

Accordingly, Hamas possesses a variety of weapons, ranging from drones equipped with grenades to powerful dual-action anti-tank weapons.

Israeli soldiers operating in the Gaza Strip. Photo: REUTERS

Since Israel's ground campaign began in late October, approximately 110 Israeli soldiers have been killed as tanks and infantry advanced into cities and refugee camps, according to official Israeli figures.

This number is higher than the 66 soldiers killed in the 2014 conflict, when Israel launched a three-week ground offensive but its goal at the time was not to eliminate Hamas.

Yaacov Amidror, a retired Israeli brigadier general and former national security adviser now working at the Jewish Institute for National Security (JINSA), said: “The scale of this war is incomparable to 2014, when our forces were operating no more than one kilometer inside Gaza.”

He said the military "still hasn't found a good solution for the tunnels," a network that has expanded significantly over the past decade.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel would wage war "until it achieves absolute victory." Israeli officials said it could take several months to achieve that goal.

Ophir Falk, Netanyahu's foreign policy adviser, said, "This was a challenge from day one," adding that the attack came at a high price. "We knew that we might have to pay an additional price to accomplish the mission."

"Hamas has made some major strides in building up its forces since 2014," said Eyal Pinko, a former senior Israeli intelligence official now working at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University.

He said that some advanced weapons, such as the Russian-designed Kornet anti-tank missile, had been smuggled in with the help of Hamas's Iranian ally. But he said that Hamas had become proficient in manufacturing other weapons in Gaza, such as RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenades, and the militants now had a larger stockpile of ammunition.

Mai Anh (according to Reuters)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/hamas-bien-duong-pho-gaza-thanh-me-cung-chet-choc-voi-quan-doi-israel-post276851.html