According to a New York Times investigation, Hamas fighters are entrenching themselves in tunnels and among civilians in order to prolong the war in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas’ military strategy aims to “avoid direct confrontations,” Salah al-Din al-Awaedeh, a Hamas member and former fighter, told the New York Times. “The goal is to disappear … while launching tactical attacks against the occupying army,” he said.
The New York Times investigation, which is based on analysis of battlefield videos as well as interviews with Hamas members and Israeli soldiers, lays out key elements of Hamas’ military strategy.
The investigation found that Hamas uses “hundreds of kilometers of tunnels” – more than Israeli commanders had expected – to move unseen in Gaza. Hamas arms civilian homes and infrastructure, including hospitals and UN offices, to hide ammunition and conceal militants.
Hamas’ strategy is consistent with guerrilla tactics used by insurgent groups around the world, including the Taliban and the Viet Cong. Small groups of fighters disguised as civilians ambush Israeli soldiers. Other militants set traps and use children as lookouts. The goal is to delay the war as long as possible, even at the cost of further civilian casualties.
Hamas propaganda videos posted on social media show small militant groups, often disguised as civilians, attacking Israeli tanks and soldiers.
Guerrilla warfare has been Hamas’ strategy since Oct. 27, when the ground offensive began. Lior Soharin, an Israeli reserve sergeant major, overran a Hamas outpost near the border when the war began. He told the New York Times the outpost was empty. “We learned afterwards that they were there – right under the ground,” he said.
According to Israeli officials, these guerrilla tactics explain why Israel felt compelled to launch attacks on civilian infrastructure.
The investigation also shows that Hamas’ military tactics – which include the use of civilians, including children, as sentries – may violate international law. The Geneva Convention states that parties to a conflict must “avoid the establishment of military objectives in or near densely populated areas” and that other necessary precautions must be taken to protect civilians.
According to the New York Times investigation, Hamas had been preparing for war years before October 7. Since 2021, Hamas has scaled back production of long-range rockets to prioritize explosives and anti-tank missiles. It has also expanded its network of tunnels and created access points in civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings.
At the start of the war, Hamas had enough ammunition for a large-scale campaign. Andreas Krieg, a military strategy expert at King’s College London, told the New York Times: “They are far from defeated.”
