{"id":72764,"date":"2023-10-20T13:04:08","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T13:04:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/10\/20\/the-fight-in-gaza-will-be-hell-military-experts-in-urban-combat-say\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T15:52:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T15:52:01","slug":"the-fight-in-gaza-will-be-hell-military-experts-in-urban-combat-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2023\/10\/20\/the-fight-in-gaza-will-be-hell-military-experts-in-urban-combat-say\/","title":{"rendered":"The fight in Gaza will be hell, military experts in urban combat say"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the Israeli military continues striking targets inside Gaza following the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas <\/a>that killed an estimated 1,400 in Israel and resulted in another 200 being taken hostage, the specter of a large-scale ground offensive into the densely populated area of northern Gaza looms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Israeli Defense Forces says it has mobilized 360,000 reserve troops.<\/a> Its leaders have told Gaza residents to evacuate the northern area and called for the complete destruction of the militant group Hamas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Urban fighting <\/a>of any kind presents a host of unique tactical challenges for both sides and devastating consequences for civilians caught in its midst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. military largely has played a support role in some of the more recent, significant urban battles<\/a>, such as the nine-month Battle of Mosul in 2016\u20132017 in Iraq; the five-month Siege of Marawi, Philippines, and the four-month Battle of Raqqa, Syria, both in 2017; and a variety of urban battles through the ongoing Russian war with Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Iraq War, the United States slogged through its own urban fights<\/a> in Baghdad, Fallujah, Sadr City and elsewhere in Iraq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That sample of recent urban combat has shown monthslong fights have caused billions in damage, and left thousands dead and many more wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estimates from Mosul, Iraq, alone \u2014 a likely comparison for what may happen in Gaza, according to multiple experts \u2014 suggest that <\/b>more than 1,000 coalition forces died. And official estimates for Islamic State fighters killed range between 7,700 people to more than 16,000 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The entirety of Gaza spans an area approximately the size of Washington, D.C., and contains a population of more than 2 million residents. North Gaza and Gaza City combined hold more than half of the area\u2019s residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the tolls of dead, wounded and widespread destruction from other urban battles <\/b>is any kind of indicator, a prolonged ground operation in Gaza likely is to produce as much or more carnage, experts said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIsrael has not fought something on this scale in quite some time,\u201d said Raphael Cohen, a senior political scientist at Rand and an Iraq War veteran. \u201cThis is already one of the more bloody conflicts in its history and it\u2019s only going to get bloodier.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some aspects of urban combat remain the same, regardless of the era or region. Buildings, tunnels and other obstacles hide defenders, rubble impedes vehicles and provides ample opportunities for booby traps, civilians who remain pose a challenge to forces intent on reducing casualties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The presence of civilians also provides fighters a way to blend into the population. Every inch of territory gained consumes more ammunition, supplies and by its intense nature, creates higher casualty counts, requiring more troops than an operation in any other terrain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the desert, troops usually can see the enemy coming and can maneuver with ease. Forests, jungles and mountains strain equipment and logistics, taxing mobility. But a city is a whole other matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe worst possible set of circumstances is a city,\u201d said Dakota Wood, a retired Marine lieutenant colonel who is now a senior research fellow for the Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C., conservative think tank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Urban terrain can blunt, but not entirely eliminate, the advantages of a modern military force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s three dimensional: underground areas, shopping centers, sewage lines, tunnels, below-ground parking and basement areas,\u201d Wood said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201curban canyons\u201d created by high-rise buildings, the warren of alleyways, roads and other obstacles constrain movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of all the militaries in the world, some experts say Israel is the best trained, equipped and positioned for fighting an urban campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it will still be hell on everyone involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Urban offense and defense<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Israeli Defense Forces concentrate their manning, equipping and training efforts on defending Israel, and as such can specialize <\/b>a force in ways expeditionary forces, like those in the U.S. military, could not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means a range of specialized units purpose-built for going after the massive tunnel networks used by Hamas in Gaza and a series of brigades that are infantry and armor-heavy, with advanced cyber and electromagnetic warfare capabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the Israeli Defense Forces has not conducted major ground offensives into the heart of Gaza since it ended its nearly 40-year occupation of the territory in 2005, the force has commanders in its ranks who\u2019ve fought in those territories and studied them for years, said John Spencer, author of \u201cUnderstanding Urban Warfare,\u201d and chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Madison Policy Forum foundation in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Israeli soldiers regain control of the Kibbutz Be’eri, Oct. 11, Kibbutz Be’eri. (Ilia Yefimovich\/The Associated Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Spencer outlined some of the strengths that the Israeli Defense Forces brings to such a fight in a recent series of podcasts<\/a> and articles on the Urban Warfare Project at the Modern War Institute<\/a> at West Point, New York. According to him, for Israeli Defense Forces units, equipment and tactics strengths include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n