Israel is on the cusp of an armed military incursion into the Gaza Strip to battle Hamas militants who slaughtered hundreds of civilians this past weekend in a series of ruthless surprise attacks.
In the meantime, Israel’s air force is pounding Gaza with constant airstrikes in an attempt to reduce Hamas infrastructure and military targets to rubble.
There’s just one problem.
Hamas does not operate like a normal enemy, nor do they live in obvious, above-ground compounds or travel through the streets like most Palestinian civilians bearing the brunt of Israel’s bombs.
Instead, they work in a complex network of reinforced underground tunnels, built by the Islamist organisation and financed and supplied by Iran.
This means Israel can bomb Gaza all it likes – but would likely need to deploy hundreds of thousands of troops if it is to wipe the organisation out – and the operation would likely share stark similarities with the bitter urban warfare seen in Mosul and other areas of Iraq.