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Gaza War in May 2021 Showed Increase in Hamas Capabilities
(Real Clear Defense) Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Richard Natonski and Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Thomas Trask - During a detailed fact-finding trip to Israel this summer, the authors found real advances in Hamas' military capabilities, with implications for U.S. operations. Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza fired 4,500 rockets at Israel in just 11 days - roughly the same amount as in the 50-day 2014 conflict. Hamas sought to overwhelm Israel's Iron Dome anti-missile defenses with large volleys intended to overpower a single battery. While Hamas possessed as many rockets as in 2014, these boasted larger payloads and longer ranges - up to 70-100 miles. Hamas was developing new electronic warfare capabilities to degrade the effectiveness of the Iron Dome. The conflict also saw the first use of suicide drones by Hamas, sending them against an offshore natural gas platform and other targets. Hamas also attempted to launch an explosive underwater drone for the first time. Hamas excavated an elaborate, 200-mile network of tunnels to command and move combat forces, launch rockets, and shield military assets from Israeli airstrikes. This conflict is a harbinger of growing threats to the U.S. from adversaries that fight unconventionally with advanced weaponry. Hamas' new capabilities reveal the need for concerted U.S.-Israel cooperation on research and development - as well as joint tactics, techniques, and procedures - to effectively defeat threats posed by technologies that are proliferating into the hands of unconventional adversaries. Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Richard Natonski, former Commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Command, and Lt.-Gen. (ret.) Thomas Trask, former Vice Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, are members of the Gaza Assessment Task Force at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA).