What's Hebrew for Napalm in the Morning?

Operation Guardian of the Walls

Operation Guardian of the Walls pitted Hamas’ rocket arsenal and terror capability vs. Israel’s Iron Dome and the IDF’s ability to inflict pain upon Hamas. On purely military terms, Israel won the conflict.

Over the course of Operation Guardian of the Walls, Hamas proved it could maintain a steady stream of rocket fire against Israel. Whenever it wanted to, Hamas kept cities near Gaza like Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Beersheba under fire. Hamas also launched large barrages against Tel Aviv. Hamas, PIJ, and other terror groups fired an average of about 450 rockets per day. Overall, Hamas and company launched 4,500 rockets at Israel. Some 680 rockets landed in Gaza and a further 280 hit the water. On the second night of the war, Hamas tried to swamp Iron Dome with a sustained barrage of 800+ rockets. Iron Dome held.   Hamas had a considerable fleet of Kamikaze drones and launched several attacks on Israeli towns. Most were shot down and those that did hit their targets inflicted negligible damage. The IAF says it struck 570 rocket sites and pits and destroyed 70 MLRS launchers.

            Each night of the conflict, between 40-60 IAF aircraft would concentrate on one aspect of Hamas’ infrastructure. On the night of 11-12 May, the IAF bombed known weapons storage sites and rocket manufacturing facilities. The next night, the IAF bombed Hamas’ ministry of finance and various banks across Gaza. Beginning the weekend of 12 May, the Israelis targeted office towers Hamas used for intelligence gathering, communications, and headquarters. In every case, the Israelis called the manager and residents of the targeted building before the strike and warned them to evacuate. The Israelis also hit buildings with non-lethal ‘roof-knocker’ missiles to scare people away. On 15 May the IAF hit the Al Jalaa Tower which housed Hamas intelligence as well as the Associated Press. The AP ludicrously claimed it had no idea it shared office space with Hamas. Most importantly, Israel spent five nights hammering Hamas’ massive tunnel system, named Metro by the IDF.

            Israel also attacked Hamas and PIJ leadership. On the night of 11 May, the Israelis assassinated the head of Hamas intelligence Hassan Koagi, and his deputy Wali Issa. Another strike killed Bassem Issa, head of Hamas’ Gaza City military operations. The Israelis also got Hamas’ engineering chief, the commander of their cyber warfare unit, and the head of Hamas’ rocket development. By the end of 12 May, the Israelis killed at least 16 members of Hamas’ senior leadership. Several were killed in a tunnel under Al-Thalathini Street in central Gaza City. An hour before the ceasefire was to take effect, Hamas sent a terror squad into a cross border tunnel. These were spotted and their tunnel bombed. All were killed. As of this writing, the IDF says it killed over 200 Hamas operatives.

            Hamas and PIJ invested considerable resources in naval units. This included frogmen, boats, aerial and undersea drones. In past conflicts, commando raids on the Israeli coast failed badly. This time Hamas targeted the Tamir gas fields. They launched several rocket volleys at Tamir sea platforms but did no damage. The Israelis also stopped several Kamikaze drone attacks. The IAF attacked and destroyed at least 10 naval installations and 22 vessels. The Israelis also killed the head of Hamas’ submarine R&D department.

            On the night of Thursday, May 13, Israel conducted its largest airstrike of the war. Israeli tanks and infantry massed on the border and bombarded targets of opportunity. The IDF let slip that a ground operation was underway. In response, hundreds of Hamas fighters took refuge within their Metro tunnel system. Then, 160 aircraft bombed dozens of targets within. This was just the first of five ‘phases’ of attacks on the Metro. Each night the IAF hit a different phase. The Israelis claim to have destroyed a hundred kilometers worth of Metro tunnels.

            Operation Guardian of the Walls was an intelligence victory for Israel. After assassinating Hamas and PIJ leaders, the Israelis provided their names, photos, and addresses. Several Hamas leaders lost their homes in the war. Israeli intelligence used drones equipped with hyper-spectral imaging which can detect and image materials buried under ground. Ofek-16 satellites snap high resolution photographs. Much of the credit goes to Israel’s Unit 9900. Remarkably, Unit 9900 uses autistic soldiers to analyze those photos. The Israelis undoubtedly have considerable human intelligence assets in Gaza.

            Right now, Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank are celebrating their ‘victory’ over Israel. This is typical. Arabs think Saddam Hussein won the First Gulf War because he survived the Coalition onslaught. The average Egyptian believes they won the Yom Kippur War because they negotiated the return of the Sinai in the aftermath. No matter that the war began on the east bank of Suez and ended on the west bank with two Egyptian armies surrounded. Don’t be fooled. Operation Guardian of the Walls was another impressive Israeli victory over Hamas.