12 things to know about the IDF’s Gaza ground offensive – analysis

The IDF has launched a ground offensive into the Gaza Strip that military officials have said will be long and hard. The goal this time around is to destroy Hamas’s political and military capacity after the terrorist organization launched a bloody and barbaric attack against Israeli civilians on October 7.

The IDF has put extensive censorship on what can be reported from its military tactics in Gaza at the moment. The Jerusalem Post is subject to the censor but can share several IDF tactics to help understand what is happening in the Gaza Strip.

Here are 12 things you should know:

1. To date, the invasion is more focused in the North, though it could prop up anywhere at any given time.
2. The censorship of troop movements has been effective with Hamas, which is used to having access to Israeli open sources for real-time intelligence and has led to the group mispositioning its forces when it has made wrong guesses about where the IDF will show up next.
3. The IDF is using new armored carrier vehicles with advanced defensive capabilities and tanks to protect troops as they advance in Gaza.
4. Artillery and tanks are using a variety of smoke-style diversions to make it difficult for Hamas forces to get clear shots at IDF forces when they enter new areas.
5. D9 bulldozers are being used to clear out boobytraps, mines, and other ambush items before IDF soldiers enter various areas.
6. Air power, especially drones, is still being used extensively in conjunction with land forces to strike Hamas forces, which come out to engage land forces. This is an advantage over mere strikes from the air without land forces, which do not force Hamas forces out of their hideouts as much.
7. Having artillery and tanks more involved allows much more immediate destruction of hiding places anytime Hamas forces reveal their hiding places with mere gunfire, without actually stepping out into any open area.
8. Despite all of the above successes, the IDF is talking about killing single digits or some dozens of Hamas forces at a time, still, nowhere near the many thousands or even some tens of thousands it may need to kill to comprehensively defeat Hamas and make it much more difficult for it to reconstitute its military forces for an insurgency after any initial Israeli “win.”
9. A tip off to the fact that the IDF’s success in killing Hamas forces in large quantities has still been limited is the relatively tiny number of IDF losses to date. Large volumes of Hamas forces will not engage and will continue to be able to hide until even larger numbers of IDF forces are actually exposed and enter more dangerous areas
10. The IDF has not broached penetrating Shifa hospital or other critical areas where top Hamas officials are hiding and which will need to be taken over if Israel wants to at some point accomplish “toppling” Hamas in any more long-term sense.
11. Despite the remarkable rescue of one hostage, a female IDF lookout from Nahal Oz, the vast majority of up to 230 hostages are still in play. The IDF has not yet made progress in freeing a more significant number operationally. Likewise, Hamas is holding many hostages in sensitive areas to deter Israel from attacking those areas, especially regarding Hamas’ top leaders.
12. The IDF and the government are greatly concerned about falling international legitimacy but have not managed to figure out a better strategy for streamlining humanitarian aid, nor have they figured out a plan for accomplishing the war aims faster without losing more IDF soldiers and killing more Palestinian civilians.

JPost