12 July 2024

Combing the desert: 'Spaceballs' and the Hamas tunnel quagmire - analysis

YONAH JEREMY BOB

As the IDF comes close to concluding its second invasion of Shejaia in northern Gaza and starts its reinvasion of Gaza City – the fifth reinvasion of a part of Gaza – many are asking why didn’t the IDF destroy all of the Hamas tunnels during its first run-through?

Weren’t tens of thousands of soldiers and thousands upon thousands of airstrikes from October to January enough to do the job?

Clearly, the answer is no – the explanation of why: Spaceballs.

This is not a random explanation by The Jerusalem Post but an analogy used to define the challenge by a high-level defense source with some of the most intimate and up-close knowledge of the challenges of Hamas’s tunnels in multiple areas of northern and southern Gaza.

What does Spaceballs, an off-color 1987 cinematic comedy spoofing Star Wars, have to do with understanding tunnel warfare and the immense challenge and quagmire the IDF is confronting in eliminating the Gazan terror group’s greatest tool for hiding its leadership, hiding hostages, ambushing IDF forces, and avoiding aerial detection?

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