War in Gaza: Experts point to Israel’s challenges in the local fight against Hamas
Videos released by Hamas help reconstruct the terrorist attack that sparked the war. The operation was long planned and even involved improvised weapons that were more difficult for Israeli defenses to track.
The evidence collected so far shows that the details were well planned, even if it appeared to be a disorganized group of terrorists advancing on motorcycles and pickup trucks each terrorist had defined locations and targets.
The New York Times newspaper had access to the video captured by the camera in the head of the barracks invasion commander who was later killed. This shows that the terrorists carried maps with color codes showing what they would find in the facility.
1 of 2 The video shows that the terrorists carried maps that colorcoded what they would find in the facilities Photo: Fantástico The video shows that the terrorists carried maps that colorcoded what they would find in the facilities Photo: Fantástico
Hamas attacked targets along the entire length of the 51kilometer wall that separates the Gaza Strip from Israel; Holes opened in four places. It is estimated that at least 2,000 terrorists entered Israeli territory in two waves.
The first attack hit military bases and security posts and in the second, 1,800 terrorists entered and shot everyone they met on the streets, in residential areas and also at the music festival site, where they massacred at least 260 people three of whom were Brazilians. According to the plan, they were to kill as many Israelis as possible and take many hostages.
“Bringing hostages into Gaza and expecting a very strong response from Israel is part of a strategy. Why? Because Hamas knows that the whole world is watching Israel at this moment, and there is a clear intention that Israel’s reaction goes far beyond what is happening. “That should be the case in such a situation,” says Vitélio Brustolin, professor in International Relations at UFF and researcher at Harvard.
A Hamas spokesman said in an interview with Russian television that the group pretended to negotiate with Israel for two years while planning the invasion without being intercepted by Israel’s powerful spy service. The first attacks were carried out with drones, deceiving a defense system designed for more conventional warfare.
“Defense systems are still programmed for airplanes, helicopters and large metal objects. “But now the reality is that small improvised drones can be used in attacks and a swarm of them can trigger a military operation,” said Mark Hienay of Human Rights Watch.
2 of Hamas’ 2 first attacks were carried out with drones Photo: Fantástico Hamas’ first attacks were carried out with drones Photo: Fantástico
The drones’ targets were Israeli surveillance towers, rendering the cameras and sensors indicating the invasion useless. Israel remained in the dark about what was happening in the country.
“It is still a cyber attack. It takes place in physical space, but the goal is to reduce the attacker’s ability to monitor events in real time. And we know that there are other types of cyberattacks as well, such as server overloads to overload important services for society,” explains Andrew Borene, a former official at the US Counterterrorism Center.
Listen to Fantástico podcasts