Underground war between Israel, Hamas heats up - Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East
▻http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/04/israel-gaza-tunnels-hamas-deterrence-weapon-new-technology.html
Hamas understands that it is decisively outflanked by the IDF in land, sea and air. The only advantage that Deif succeeded in achieving for his fighters is in the subterranean space, where the IDF is not accustomed to fighting and cannot actualize its superiority. That is the reason Hamas invests all its energies in reconstructing the tunnels. Past experience has shown that the only way to bring Israel to its knees is to abduct an Israeli soldier, a la Gilad Shalit, who was captured in 2006 and released in 2011.
In order to carry out such a kidnapping, Hamas needs a tunnel that will penetrate the Israeli homefront and allow its “Nokhba” fighters, Hamas’ elite unit, to carry out a surprise attack on the IDF and drag one or two live Israeli soldiers into the Strip. Israel, on its side, understands the situation and invests all its energies in attempts to neutralize the tunnel challenge.
Simultaneously, acute political struggles are being waged within Hamas, and also among decision-makers in Israel. Amos Gilad, director of the Political-Military Affairs Bureau at Israel’s Defense Ministry, said April 13 that there is a conflict in Gaza between two echelons. “The diplomatic echelon [in Gaza] has seniority and priority over the terror echelon,” Gilad said. “But Mohammed Deif couldn’t care less about diplomatic policy, he does what he feels like and all his people follow him accordingly. … Therefore, there are, in effect, two entities [of Hamas in Gaza]. One works with Iran and one works ‘as if’ diplomatically. It conducts negotiations with Egypt and [also] cooperates with Islamic State."
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