Now, Gaza fights war of numbers

[scarletwoman]

Now, Gaza fights war of numbers

Omar Karmi, Foreign Correspondent
*Last Updated: February 03. 2009 9:30AM UAE / February 3. 2009 5:30AM GMT

GAZA CITY // Abu al Bara is soft spoken and easy mannered. He betrays little emotion behind his steel-rimmed glasses, although he occasionally bristles at certain questions.

Beyond that, the 35-year-old university graduate, who as a member of the Izzedine al Qassam Brigades goes only by his nom de guerre, is polite and measured in his replies.

The Izzedine al Qassam Brigades are Hamas’s main force in Gaza. With an estimated 5,000 fighters, a military leadership that remains in hiding at all times and an sometimes indeterminable connection to the political leadership, it was the Brigades which were given the task of fighting the advancing Israeli army.

<snip>

Less than 50 Brigades members were killed by the Israeli army, Abu al Bara said. The rest of the casualties, as a consequence of the “overwhelming firepower and lack of morals” deployed by the Israeli army, were civilian. The low number of casualties among the Brigades, he said, was principally because they did not engage in much direct fighting.

“The Brigades are not a real army. There is no reason to pretend we could have stood and fought the Israeli army.”

(It's a very interesting article, giving a much more detailed picture of what happened in Gaza in regard to the armed wing of Hamas. Please go to the link and read the whole piece.)

sw

[bemildred]

1. Thanks, that's interesting. nt

[scarletwoman]

2. Thank you, I'm glad you found it interesting.

It was difficult to pick out excerpts to post, since there's quite a lot to that article. I wish I had included the last line:

If anything, said Mr Garlasco, who also investigated the 2006 Lebanon war for Human Rights Watch, this “dirty little war” had shown only who was really backed by Iran with serious weapons.

“Hizbollah yes, Hamas no.” (my bold)

sw

[bemildred]

6. Well, it's one of the things, in my mind, most requiring explanation

about the recent hostilities, the apparent failure of Hamas to put up much of a fight; especially if one is to give credence to the notion that they were being heavily armed by Iran. There are several different interpretations, for example, the tactical excellence of the IDF in preventing casualties on their side. While I find that an acceptable argument I don't think it's sufficient. I have held since before the war started that Hamas was so weak that they could offer little meaningful resistance, and their goal would be merely to conserve their forces, perhaps with a bit opportunism if conditions were right. However, if they chose intentionally to make only token resistance, as this story indicates, it leaves the question of what their real capability and level of armament is somewhat open. But it still leaves me feeling like militarily they are not much of a threat, and that they therefore fought the war as a political war, giving only lip service to combat. And this piece is right in saying that they did what guerrillas would do in such circumstances, adapted to the conditions of Gaza.

[azurnoir]

3. Interesting piece

the impression I got was that IDF was frustrated with the fact that Hamas fighters did not present themselves out on open ground where they would be easy targets for tanks a fact that explains much of what has been coming out of the press

[scarletwoman]

4. From the article:

“Israel wanted to bring us out into the open ground, but we are not that stupid. In open ground we would have been hunted down by their killing machines. We stayed underground and tried to hit when we could.”

[azurnoir]

5. Yup each side wanted to fight where

they would have the tactical advantage, instead what we're hearing is how cowardly Hamas was for not standing out on open ground and saying "here shoot us" and actually making IDF get out those heavily armored vehicles .