GR66
Army.ca Veteran
- Reaction score
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- Points
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I think possibly a major factor behind the number of civilian casualties we're seeing in Gaza is the fact that Israel doesn't have enough troops to conduct a Clear/Hold/Build counter insurgency strategy. They are going into areas and clearing them but they don't have enough troops to hold them with the civilian population in place. And of course there is zero opportunity to "Build" if you're not holding.A couple Hamas commanders, one of whom reportedly their chief of staff for West Bank operations. Certainly a worthy target if true. Issue is, the civilian population there has been moved and evacuated time and again, and are crowded into extremely dense areas that the Israelis have essentially forced them to for lack of other options. When you target enemy leadership in a refugee camp, that’s a choice. In this case that means the world was quickly looking at a lot of video of badly burned bodies, and a distraught father holding what was left of a little girl with her head very clearly missing. Maybe I’m a bit swayed from how much time I spend holding my own child each day, but I hate seeing that shit, especially knowing that Israel is choosing certain ways to attack over others.
That kind of imagery has strategic consequences if you care what other countries and their populations think of you, which Israel to some extent still does. Both sides appear to consider the other guys’ civilian lives to be pretty expendable. It’s been a long time since I expected any better of Hamas, which is why I’m very at ease with Hamas being killed. Unfortunately Israel is showing less and less restraint and discipline as this goes on. Meanwhile another generation on both sides is getting radicalized against each other.
And the band plays on…
The result is that civilian populations (with Hamas fighters among them) are shifted from area to area as the IDF is clearing sections but then are filtering back because Israel can't hold the terrain. In fact I suspect that they are actually making their job harder by moving the population out of the targeted areas. They are simply cramming more and more people into smaller areas so obviously the chance of collateral damage goes up when they strike legitimate targets in areas that are densely packed.
I totally get why the Israelis want and have the right to wipe out Hamas but I think they are quite possibly making the long term situation more difficult for themselves due to the level of casualties and physical destruction they are inflicting in Gaza. No idea what other options they have though really. The horrific attack by Hamas demanded a powerful response. I just don't know if in the end they may be making their future harder by further radicalizing an already radicalized population.