Israel expects to encounter urban warfare in possible future war in Syria

Israel expects to encounter urban warfare and terror tunnels in a future conflict in Syria, a senior IDF officer said on Monday.

“We are looking towards future challenges in the next war-tunnels and urban combat-which could be in Gaza, Lebanon or Syria,” a senior IDF officer told reporters on Monday during a visit to the Lotar Counter-Terror School’s base at Mitkan Adam outside of Modiin.

While the military is still perfecting underground warfare techniques, the LOTAR school is “a wealth of knowledge in all aspects of tunnel warfare,” the senior officer said, explaining that after Operation Protective Edge in 2014 the IDF understood the need for troops to fight in tunnels after Hamas surprised the military with their cross-border attack tunnels dug from the densely populated Gaza Strip into Southern Israel.

Israel’s military has been investing extensive efforts in locating cross-border tunnels from Gaza and a total of 18 cross-border tunnels have been discovered and destroyed since the end of Operation Protective Edge in 2014.

But while the army says that most of the cross-border tunnels have been destroyed and no longer pose a threat, the IDF knows that any tunnel opening found inside the Strip is connected to a network of tunnels, full of weapons and fighters.

The IDF also discovered and destroyed six cross-border tunnels dug by the Lebanese Hezbollah group who had planned to have dozens of armed militants attack the nearby communities in the next war between Hezbollah and Israel. 

While the military insists all cross-border tunnels have been destroyed, they have warned of other Hezbollah tunnels which have not crossed the border but can still be used by the Shiite terror group.

Instructors in the underground warfare unit go through a grueling seven week course where they gain in-depth knowledge of tunnel warfare and train their soldiers to think outside the box and to respond quickly to the unexpected.

But underground warfare is just one of the many specializations that the IDF’s Lotar Counter-Terror School teaches troops for the next war against Israel’s enemies.  The school is divided into different sections according to specialization, including high-altitude “monkeys”, sniping, robotics, and climbing, rappelling and rescue.

“We don’t see the school as only training for typical terror attacks like stabbing or vehicular ramming attacks, but for advance fighting and future warfare,” said Lt.-Col. Dudu Abu, commander of the LOTAR Counter-Terror School. “If in the past there was one specific thing we trained for here, we now train troops to be versatile and to respond to a wide range of incidents and situations.”

According to the military, over 10,000 IDF troops have gone through training at LOTAR in 2018 and troops from the school have taken part in 23 drills overseas. LOTAR troops, who also take part in operational activities, have taken part in 100 operational missions over the past year.

The instructors at the school are all combat soldiers and are responsible for training all IDF units in counter-terrorism and, if needed, take part in operational activities. In the past year Lt.-Col. Abu has also taken the training of urban combat to all frontline soldiers who will enter enemy territory.

“We have great synergy with all units in the IDF,” he said, explaining that LOTAR partners with the newly opened Commando School and that troops from other elite units come to Mitkan Adam for several weeks to train.

LOTAR’s counter-terror unit (CTU) specializes in teaching troops counter-terror tactics and high-altitude warfare where troops known as “monkeys”  rappel from rooftops or helicopters in order to neutralize threats and rescue hostages.

Troops in the IDF’s Oketz (Hebrew for “sting”) unit also train in LOTAR. The unit was established in 1974 and is considered part of the army’s elite special forces, with the dogs and their handlers attached to all of the army’s combat units filling several important tasks such as detecting explosives and weapons, chasing and attacking wanted suspects, as well as taking part in search and rescue missions.

“Armies from across the world knock on our door to learn about Oketz,” the senior commander said. “We train all year, in Israel and abroad, with our troops and our dogs.”

While Israel has not gone to war since Operation Protective Edge, the men and women of the Oketz unit have not stopped, acting as “contractors” for other units in the IDF, participating in arrests of Palestinian suspects in the West Bank and with female Oketz soldiers deployed at the various checkpoints assisting troops in searching vehicles and Palestinians who cross into Israel.

All IDF snipers spend ten weeks at LOTAR, learning how to precisely hit targets from long distances and provide cover for troops. According to the senior commander, snipers are trained to maintain extreme focus under pressure, such as the weekly border protests along the Gaza Strip or for urban combat situations where the enemy is able to disappear within seconds.

“Every soldier will take part in the next war and we must make sure that they will be where they need to be and professional in order to win that next war,” the senior officer said.

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