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Leveling the Battlefield: IDF Refines Urban Warfare Tactics

(Ynet News) Yoav Zitun - In the southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis, IDF troops are spending their days less in close combat with Hamas terrorists and more in reshaping the battlefield. Their mission is to secure and expand the military corridors that cut through the city, connecting fortified outposts that are becoming permanent fixtures on the ground. Over several months, 2,137 buildings were reduced to rubble in the Abbasan neighborhoods of eastern Khan Yunis, not far from the Israeli border. The demolitions were systematic and massive, part of a larger IDF strategy to erase urban cover where Hamas fighters could conceal tunnel shafts and explosives. Instead of clearing houses room by room, a painstaking and dangerous process, the IDF now prefers to tear them down. "If no buildings are standing, Hamas cannot return, dig new tunnels under cover or set ambushes above ground," one officer explained. The soldiers' new mission profile became less about chasing gunmen from house to house and more about ensuring that Hamas cannot rebuild. Using small drones armed with miniature explosives, soldiers punch a hole into a roof. Then, a larger drone swoops in, dropping dozens of kilograms of explosives straight into the heart of the building. What used to require dangerous work by combat engineers can now be achieved in as little as three minutes. The method saves lives. Many of the targeted houses were already weakened by shelling or airstrikes, making them dangerous to enter. Now, the risk to soldiers is dramatically reduced. "Every building we destroyed was implicated in terror. Some were homes to the men who stormed Israel on October 7. We're not leaving Hamas anything to rebuild with," one officer said.
2025-08-28 00:00:00
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