Comment by steviedotboston
2 years ago
This is just the nature of urban warfare against an terrorist group that is deeply embedded in the civilian population. The tunnels add a huge level of complexity to it.
Israel did themselves no favors by projecting a message early on that they would be able to "destroy" Hamas entirely in a very short amount of time. It was probably inevitable from the beginning that this would be a long, drawn out conflict. Hamas will continue to exist to some extent for quite some time. But the fact remains that their military capabilities are far diminished now, and continue to be futher diminished. That is the essential goal of the war.
Hamas is so diminished they have, once again, reclaimed their major hub of operations that is the hospital.
Why didn't the IDF destroy the tunnels under the hospital the first time?
Hamas and PIJ re-entered the hospital by land. The tunnels in and around the hospital have been destroyed. The IDF was able to kill and arrest the terrorists in the hospital pretty quickly, with no civilian deaths in the process. It was a major success. Sure it would be better if they never re-entered the hospital, but I think pockets of insurgency and re-emergence are probably to be expected.
Hamas's ability to hold onto these places when they re-take them though is far diminished. Their tunnel network is in very poor shape, their weapons supply is surely being depleted, and thousands of their fighters are dead or arrested. They're going to fight to the bitter end (they're insane suicidal terrorists after all), but they are not as strong as they were when the war started. They are scattered, disorganized, and isolated.