[Bus Insider India] Israel's expected invasion may plunge it into months of brutal urban warfare on the streets of Gaza and in its maze of tunnels, The New York Times reported, but a former UK intelligence chief warned that it's a trap.Israel has long avoided an invasion of this scale — which could be the largest since its 2006 invasion of Lebanon, per the Times — as it was reluctant to fight in the densely populated, narrow Gaza Strip.
Israeli soldiers have been given additional urban environment training in recent days to help them fight in the ruins of Gaza, the NYT reported. They will face a highly motivated enemy fighting on its home turf, using exploding roadside bombs and booby-trapping buildings.
Hamas will also aim to exploit its extensive network of tunnels in northern Gaza to ambush Israeli forces from behind, a Hamas officer, speaking anonymously, told the NYT.
But following Hamas' wave of surprise terrorist attacks on October 7, in which at least 1,300 people in Israel died, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have responded with a barrage of airstrikes. They are now gearing up to send a mass force into Gaza itself.
The IDF aims to take out the military and political leadership of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and recover up to 150 hostages taken by the group during last week's attacks.