PARIS — Israel appears likely to stage a ground assault on Gaza in response to deadly weekend attacks by Hamas, risking close-quarters fighting in densely populated areas, including in underground tunnels and around hostages.
Israel's government on Monday said it would"immediately cut water supply to Gaza" as part of a"complete siege" on the Hamas-controlled territory.
Going house-to-house to secure potentially booby-trapped buildings means bringing in bomb disposal experts with cumbersome gear like ladders, ropes and explosives —"possibly all while taking fire" and in the dark, he added. Its overcrowded, narrow web of streets is doubled underground by a dense tunnel network known to Israeli troops as the"Gaza Metro".
Israel's army and intelligence are certain to know about a portion of the network, and bombarded it heavily in 2021.Hamas"knows its tunnels by heart," said Mr Colin Clarke, research director at the New York-based Soufan Center think-tank. "Everyone knows it will be long and difficult, with many losses," Mr Grinberg said, although technology such as robots could work in the assaulting forces' favour."When tunnels are found, they can be closed off to shut in the people inside. In this case, the order is likely to be for no quarter" to be given.The dozens of civilian hostages Hamas seized at the weekend present another complication for the IDF.
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