Hamas’s use of civilian infrastructure plays a crucial role in their military strategy, significantly impacting their ability to conduct guerrilla warfare against Israel. Here are the key ways this tactic affects their approach:

1. Concealment and protection:

• Hamas embeds military assets within civilian structures, including homes, schools, mosques, and hospitals.

• This makes it difficult for Israeli forces to identify and target military objectives without risking civilian casualties.

1. Tunnel network:

• An extensive underground tunnel system, estimated to be 350-450 miles long with around 5,700 separate shafts, runs beneath civilian areas.

• Tunnel access points are hidden inside buildings or camouflaged, impeding detection via aerial imaging or drones.

1. Mobility and surprise:

• The tunnel network allows Hamas fighters to move unseen throughout Gaza, enabling them to “vanish” and launch surprise attacks.

• Fighters can emerge briefly from tunnels to carry out ambushes or plant explosives before retreating underground.

1. Resource storage:

• Civilian structures and tunnels are used to store weapons, ammunition, and other military supplies.

• This dispersed storage makes it challenging for Israel to neutralize Hamas’s military capabilities.

1. Command and control:

• The underground network likely houses command centers, allowing Hamas leadership to maintain control and coordination of their forces.

1. Human shields:

• By operating in civilian areas, Hamas effectively uses the population as human shields, complicating Israeli military operations.

• This tactic is designed to either deter Israeli attacks or create situations where civilian casualties can be used for propaganda purposes.

1. Cognitive warfare:

• The use of civilian infrastructure is part of Hamas’s strategy to win in the cognitive domain.

• Civilian casualties resulting from Israeli strikes on these dual-use structures are used to shape international opinion and gain sympathy for their cause.

1. Prolonging the conflict:

• By dispersing their forces and assets throughout civilian areas, Hamas makes it difficult for Israel to achieve a decisive military victory.

• This strategy aims to drag out the war, potentially influencing international opinion and political outcomes.

1. Legal and ethical challenges:

• The use of civilian infrastructure for military purposes creates legal and ethical dilemmas for Israeli forces, potentially constraining their actions.

1. Resilience:

• This approach allows Hamas to maintain some level of operational capability even in the face of superior Israeli military power.

In summary, Hamas’s integration of military assets with civilian infrastructure forms a core part of their asymmetric warfare strategy. It provides tactical advantages in terms of concealment and mobility while also serving broader strategic goals related to international perception and the prolongation of the conflict. However, this approach also puts civilian lives at risk and may constitute a violation of international law