A NEW STANDARD OF WARFARE:
ISRAEL HAS CREATED A NEW STANDARD FOR URBAN WARFARE. WHY WILL NO ONE ADMIT IT?

Colnel John Spencer is chair of urban warfare studies at the Modern War Institute (MWI) at West Point, codirector of MWI's Urban Warfare Project and host of the "Urban Warfare Project Podcast." He served for 25 years as an infantry soldier, which included two combat tours in Iraq.
He is the author of the book "Connected Soldiers: Life, Leadership, and Social Connection in Modern War" and co-author of "Understanding Urban Warfare."


The Israel Defense Forces conducted an operation at al-Shifa hospital in the Gaza Strip to root out Hamas terrorists recently, once again taking unique precautions as it entered the facility to protect the innocent; Israeli media reported that doctors accompanied the forces to help Palestinian patients if needed. They were also reported to be carrying food, water and medical supplies for the civilians inside.

None of this meant anything to Israel's critics, of course, who immediately pounced. The critics, as usual, didn't call out Hamas for using protected facilities like hospitals for its military activity. Nor did they mention the efforts of the IDF to minimize civilian casualties.

In their criticism, Israel's opponents are erasing a remarkable, historic new standard Israel has set. In my long career studying and advising on urban warfare for the U.S. military, I've never known an army to take such measures to attend to the enemy's civilian population, especially while simultaneously combating the enemy in the very same buildings.

In fact, by my analysis, Israel has implemented more precautions to prevent civilian harm than any military in history—above and beyond what international law requires and more than the U.S. did in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The international community, and increasingly the United States, barely acknowledges these measures while repeatedly excoriating the IDF for not doing enough to protect civilians—even as it confronts a ruthless terror organization holding its citizens hostage.

Instead, the U.S. and its allies should be studying how they can apply the IDF's tactics for protecting civilians, despite the fact that these militaries would almost certainly be extremely reluctant to employ these techniques because of how it would disadvantage them in any fight with an urban terrorist army like Hamas.

The predominant Western theory of executing wars, called maneuver warfare, seeks to shatter an enemy morally and physically with surprising, overwhelming force and speed, striking at the political and military centers of gravity so that the enemy is destroyed or surrenders quickly.

This was the case in the invasions of Panama in 1989, Afghanistan in 2001, Iraq in 2003 and the failed illegal attempt by Russia to take Ukraine in 2022. In all these cases, no warning or time was given to evacuate cities.

In many ways, Israel has had to abandon this established playbook in order to prevent civilian harm.
The IDF has telegraphed almost every move ahead of time so civilians can relocate, nearly always ceding the element of surprise. This has allowed Hamas to reposition its senior leaders (and the Israel hostages) as needed through the dense urban terrain of Gaza and the miles of underground tunnels it's built.

Hamas fighters, who unlike the IDF don't wear uniforms, have also taken the opportunity to blend into civilian populations as they evacuate.
The net effect is that Hamas succeeds in its strategy of creating Palestinian suffering and images of destruction to build international pressure on Israel to stop its operations, therefore ensuring Hamas' survival.

Israel gave warning, in some cases for weeks, for civilians to evacuate the major urban areas of northern Gaza before it launched its ground campaign in the fall. The IDF reported dropping over 7 million flyers, but it also deployed technologies never used anywhere in the world, as I witness firsthand on a recent trip to Gaza and southern Israel.

Israel has made over 70,000 direct phones calls, sent over 13 million text messages and left over 15 million pre-recorded voicemails to notify civilians that they should leave combat areas, where they should go, and what route they should take.
They deployed drones with speakers and dropped giant speakers by parachute that began broadcasting for civilians to leave combat areas once they hit the ground.
They announced and conducted daily pauses of all operations to allow any civilians left in combat areas to evacuate.

These measures were effective. Israel was able to evacuate upwards of 85 percent of the urban areas in northern Gaza before the heaviest fighting began.
This is actually consistent with my research on urban warfare history that shows that no matter the effort, about 10 percent of populations stay.

As the war raged on, Israel began giving out its military maps to civilians so they could conduct localized evacuations. This, too, has never been done in war.

During my recent visit to Khan Yunis, Gaza, and the IDF civilian harm mitigation unit in southern Israel, I observed as the army began using these maps to communicate each day where the IDF would be operating so civilians in other areas would stay out of harm's way.

I saw that the IDF even tracked the population in real time down to a few-block radius using drone and satellite imagery and cell phone presence and building damage assessments to avoid hitting civilians.
The New York Times reported in January that the daily civilian death toll had more than halved in the previous month and was down almost two-thirds from its peak.

Of course, the true number of Gaza civilian deaths is unknown. The current Hamas-supplied estimate of over 31,000 does not acknowledge a single combatant death (nor any deaths due to the misfiring of its own rockets or other friendly fire).

The IDF estimates it has killed about 13,000 Hamas operatives, a number I believe credible partly because I believe the armed forces of a democratic American ally over a terrorist regime, but also because of the size of Hamas fighters assigned to areas that were cleared and having observed the weapons used, the state of Hamas' tunnels and other aspects of the combat.

That would mean some 18,000 civilians have died in Gaza, a ratio of roughly 1 combatant to 1.5 civilians. Given Hamas' likely inflation of the death count, the real figure could be closer to 1 to 1. Either way, the number would be historically low for modern urban warfare.

The UN, EU and other sources estimate that civilians usually account for 80 percent to 90 percent of casualties, or a 1:9 ratio, in modern war (though this does mix all types of wars). In the 2016-2017 Battle of Mosul, a battle supervised by the U.S. that used the world's most powerful airpower resources, some 10,000 civilians were killed compared to roughly 4,000 ISIS terrorists.

And yet, analysts who should know better are still engaging in condemnation of the IDF based on the level of destruction that's still occurred—destruction that is unavoidable against an enemy that embeds in a vast tunnel system under civilian sites in dense urban terrain. This effects-based condemnation or criticism is not how the laws of war work, or violations determined. These and other analysts say the destruction and civilian causalities must either stop or be avoided in an alternative form of warfare.

Ironically, the careful approach Israel has taken may have actually led to more destruction; since the IDF giving warnings and conducting evacuations help Hamas survive, it ultimately prolongs the war and, with it, its devastation.

Israel has not created a gold standard in civilian harm mitigation in war. That implies there is a standard in civilian casualties in war that is acceptable or not acceptable; that zero civilian deaths in war is remotely possible and should be the goal; that there is a set civilian-to-combatant ratio in war no matter the context or tactics of the enemy. But all available evidence shows that Israel has followed the laws of war, legal obligations, best practices in civilian harm mitigation and still found a way to reduce civilian casualties to historically low levels.

Those calling for Israel to find an alternative to inflicting civilian casualties to lower amounts (like zero) should be honest that this alternative would leave the Israeli hostages in captivity and allow Hamas to survive the war. The alternative to a nation's survival cannot be a path to extinction.

God1000:
Such gibberish, how can any sane person praise such brutal war that has killed nearly 33,000 people mostly civilians and displaced the entire population of over 2 million people in Gaza, over 400 schools bombed, churches, mosques, markets, even cemetery was desecrated as well.

Israel doesn't want the state of Palestine to exist, this war of massive destruction says it all

Righteousness2:
There is no Nation on the face of the Earth that has done or will do in a war , What ISRAEL is doing in this war.

GOD Bless Israel Forever.

BrighterSyde:


Why are you crying? What was hamas plan after sending over 3000 bombs and killing innocent citizens in October? Were they expecting Israel to pet them?

God1000:
but this article is is full of lies, the writer sees nothing wrong in what Israel is doing

God1000:
but this article is is full of lies, the writer sees nothing wrong in what Israel is doing

Holiness2100:


Nlfpmod

https://www.newsweek.com/israel-has-created-new-standard-urban-warfare-why-will-no-one-admit-it-opinion-1883286

God1000:
Such gibberish, how can any sane person praise such brutal war that has killed nearly 33,000 people mostly civilians and displaced the entire population of over 2 million people in Gaza, over 400 schools bombed, churches, mosques, markets, hospitals, UN refugee camps, world heritage sites all razed down, even cemetery was desecrated as well, deliberate starving of people by blocking food and water from reaching civilians.

An assessment by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence found that Israel dropped 29,000 tonnes of explosives on Gaza within the period of two months of this war, according to U.S officials. By comparison, the U.S. military dropped 3,678 munitions on Iraq from 2004 to 2010 according to the U.S. Central Command

This is the most irresponsible war both past and present time

Israel doesn't want the state of Palestine to exist, this war of destruction says it all

God1000:
but this article is is full of lies, the writer sees nothing wrong in what Israel is doing

tctrills:

Oga, if we give you 2 weeks. you wouldn't be able to figure out a single lie in this article. You guys should rest.

talk2hb1:
For any reasonable and sensible person to believe this gibberish must be stupid, first looking at Russia-Ukrain war it's more than 2years how many civilians casualty was recorded, compared to Isreal war on Hamas for 6months more than 30,000 people have died and yet one stupid idiot try to tell us this is good war.

God1000:
You are all the same

tctrills:

The Russian-Ukrain war is not an urban war. Also, unlike in Gaza, Ukrainians are being accepted as refugees in neighboring countries. Egypt is not allowing for Palestinian refugees. Gaza is one of the most densely populated cities on earth.
Did you ask Why?
Every city Russia has attacked in this war has mostly been vacated before the attack.
Why Did Isreal Go Bomb them where they seek refuge? Ahbi you did not know they bomb their camp too.
You need to educate yourself on the act of warfare. When you do, you will appreciate Israel.
Appreciate a Terrorist State, when I am not mad

talk2hb1:

Isn't it obvious Isreal want them dispersed from Gaza and never come back.

God1000:
Such gibberish, how can any sane person praise such brutal war that has killed nearly 33,000 people mostly civilians and displaced the entire population of over 2 million people in Gaza, over 400 schools bombed, churches, mosques, markets, hospitals, UN refugee camps, world heritage sites all razed down, even cemetery was desecrated as well, deliberate starving of people by blocking food and water from reaching civilians.

An assessment by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence found that Israel dropped 29,000 tonnes of explosives on Gaza within the period of two months of this war, according to U.S officials. By comparison, the U.S. military dropped 3,678 munitions on Iraq from 2004 to 2010 according to the U.S. Central Command

This is the most irresponsible war both past and present time

Israel doesn't want the state of Palestine to exist, this war of destruction says it all

tctrills:

You keep saying things without evidence. Was it Israel that attacked Gaza on October 07?
Did they just attacked them without any provocation?
Did Israel not willingly hand over Gaza to the Palestinians for nothing in return?

Are you serious
How did it get into their hands in the beginning
When will

you guys begin to back what you say with facts?

God1000:
Such gibberish, how can any sane person praise such brutal war that has killed nearly 33,000 people mostly civilians and displaced the entire population of over 2 million people in Gaza, over 400 schools bombed, churches, mosques, markets, hospitals, UN refugee camps, world heritage sites all razed down, even cemetery was desecrated as well, deliberate starving of people by blocking food and water from reaching civilians.

An assessment by the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence found that Israel dropped 29,000 tonnes of explosives on Gaza within the period of two months of this war, according to U.S officials. By comparison, the U.S. military dropped 3,678 munitions on Iraq from 2004 to 2010 according to the U.S. Central Command

This is the most irresponsible war both past and present time

Israel doesn't want the state of Palestine to exist, this war of destruction says it all

Plus1234:
Nonsense and senseless as usual.Your opinion shows you are sick in the head.

tctrills:

Even when you are spoon-fed with the facts, you still hold on to your falsehoods.
This war have the least percentage of civilian death than any other urban war in modern history.
This is happening because Israel is doing everything in its power to protect the innocent.
Now let me ask you a very simple question; Of the 31k dead, how many died from Hamas fire?

LifeofDream:

What do you gain in peddling false information around?...

Israel have killed more civilian in 6 month than Russia in 2 years.. What Israel is doing is genocide, this is modern day cheating...

How can you blockade people and expect them to love you?.. Can Israel accept what they have been doing to Palestine?..

tctrills:

You have not shown a single false info that I peddled.
Russia is not fighting an urban war. Please note the big difference.
The blockage of Gaza happened after the people of Gaza voted in Hamas. How can you vote in terrorists and expect open borders. It would have been irresponsible of Israel not to do so

Righteousness2:
There is no Nation on the face of the Earth that has done or will do in a war , What ISRAEL is doing in this war.

No nation on earth feeds or provides information to the camp of its enemies under any guise in a War.

No nation on earth in a war of its life, will be extremely concious to save life.

Hamas Terrorists and other Terrorists are well aware of ISRAEL'S standard. That is why they use their kids as shields.

There is no Nation like ISRAEL on the Face of the Earth.
That is why they are the apple of GOD'S Eye.

99% of people who make noise about dont do it for the love of Palestine kids etc.
They do it for the Hate of ISRAEL.
Their hate stems from the fact that they cant explain or understand how a little nation is so Strong and so Blessed that the Earth Cannot do without them.

GOD Bless Israel Forever.