21st Century Asymmetric / Unconventional Warfare

[KLNMurthy]

Starting this thread since I didn’t see any other place to share information about Israel’s tunnel warfare with Hamas.

Other forms of asymmetric & unconventional warfare info from around the world can also be shared here.

[KLNMurthy]

Tunnel warfare in Gaza.

By all measures, Hamas has patiently built up a formidable defensive system beneath Gaza in terms of its scale and technology. Yehia Sinwar, Hamas’ political leader, has claimed that the militant group had 500 kilometers (310 miles) of tunnels dug under a Gaza Strip that is only some 360 square kilometers (140 square miles), making it roughly twice the size of Washington, D.C. If accurate, this makes this defense more than half the length of the New York metro system and far more extensive than ISIS’s lethal underground network which stymied the Iraqi Security Forces’ advance for nine months. This more advanced network stems from the fact that unlike ISIS, which only had two years to build up its tunnel network, Hamas has been patiently constructing its network for more than a decade and half. As its irregular forces faced intensive Israeli aerial and artillery bombardments and two major IDF land incursions in 2009 and 2014, its military leader Mohammad Deif, increasingly took his force underground. This was done so his command structure, foot soldiers and ammo depots (especially Hamas’ extensive arsenal rockets and mortars used to strike Israel from concealed fire holes) could survive Israeli incursions, artillery, and airstrikes.

IDF adapted and created a special unit tasked with entering, clearing, and destroying it. The new unit is known as the Samurs of “Weasels.” They are specialized tunnel fighting subunit of the Special Operations Engineering Unit of the Combat Engineering Corps which is informally known as Yahalom (“Diamond’). The Yahalom tunnel sub-unit is called Samur, dubbed the Hebrew word for “weasel” is also the initials for Slikim (Caches) and Minharot (Caves or Tunnels). On its website the Yahalom “spearhead unit” describes its mission as;

Special sabotage missions, demolition and explosion of buildings, sabotage of enemy infrastructure, handling of explosives, preparing explosive devices and bombs, neutralizing enemy explosive devices, clearing complex minefields, locating, and destroying terror tunnels. At times, the unit uses robots and many remote-controlled devices, without endangering human life.

While the outcome of what is looking to be one of the most challenging battles in Israeli history remains unclear, one thing is certain. The war that the IDF has fought so far from afar with air and artillery is about to get far more costly for its troops as they commence what is potentially the largest and most dangerous subterranean campaign since Stalingrad. And in this impending battle that is made even more nightmarish by the presence of hostages that need to be rescued, the IDF will finally come with in firing and explosive range of an army of hundreds, if not thousands of vengeful Hamas Izz al Din Qassam brigade fighters who are eagerly waiting to come to grips with an enemy who has killed thousands of their countrymen and women above ground. And when the Israeli “weasels” do meet the Palestinian tunnel “rats” in the stygian gloom, the number of IDF soldiers K.I.A. (currently at 15), will doubtless soar as Hamas fighters force them to fight on their terms much the way the Soviets, Viet Cong, and Iraqis did in their bloody tunnel wars.

[Vayutuvan]

Can India and/or Pakistan use this kind of tunnelling stratgey along the border in Rajasthan/Gujarat during a war?

[vera_k]

The stray comment about using nukes in Gaza made me wonder if there were thoughts of burying a small nuke that could be set off to collapse the tunnels without causing damage on the surface. The tunnels reach up to 240 feet below the surface so not a trivial undertaking.

[Vayutuvan]

The stray comment about using nukes in Gaza made me wonder if there were thoughts of burying a small nuke that could be set off to collapse the tunnels without causing damage on the surface. The tunnels reach up to 240 feet below the surface so not a trivial undertaking.

A better solution was in another stray comment I heard on TV. Flood the tunnels by pumping sea water from red sea. Gaza strip is not all that wide.

[KLNMurthy]

My purely amateur thought was:

Instead of going into tunnels being the only way, why not evacuate all ground floors of all buildings to start with, then use gravitational or whatever technology in each building to locate upward segments of any tunnels that may be opening on the ground floors, and pump toxic gas into the openings.

Simultaneously, put the civilian population on strict rations, make them take any meals only under supervision, so that no more food goes underground.

Would be very painstaking and would have to be coupled with other methods like scouring through the desert etc.

But it may minimize civilian casualties, reduce risk to IDF, and save hospital buildings etc.

Downside is that it will take a long time, and might have to wait till the guys underground eventually run out of food.

Plus when fighting overground, they can try to infer where tunnel openings may be, based on hamas troop concentrations, determination to hold the location, etc.

[KLNMurthy]

Can India and/or Pakistan use this kind of tunnelling stratgey along the border in Rajasthan/Gujarat during a war?

I’m guessing yes, would depend on nature of soil etc maybe.

Also, there is a chance of detection by satellite while boring the tunnels, due to open terrain.

Just guessing.

[Pratyush]

Tunnels have been routinely detected on J&K and Punjab border.

[KLNMurthy]

Israel Must Destroy Hamas’s Tunnels

Hamas has purposely placed its entire military apparatus within and underneath civilian infrastructure, from supply lines and transportation routes in tunnels crisscrossing Gaza’s cities to underground command-and-control centers, ammunition depots, living quarters, rocket launchers, and even military hospitals. Hamas’s main military bases are located beneath Gaza’s hospitals and schools, notably Al Shifa Hospital in the heart of Gaza City, and beneath many facilities operated by the United Nations. By using civilians, hospitals, and schools to shield itself from attack, Hamas has committed war crimes, certainly; but it has also made it that much more difficult for Israel to achieve substantial military gains.