Wikipedia describes the Gaza Strip, or Gaza, as “a narrow piece of land located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, bordered by Israel to the east and north, and Egypt to the southwest.”
More than 2.3 million men, women, and children (about half of the people are children) live –- some say “survive” — in this “narrow strip of land” encircled by the Mediterranean Sea on one side and by concrete walls and double-wired fences on the other sides.
Some call it “the world’s largest open-air prison.” The facts make it the third most densely populated enclave in the world.
It is from this narrow strip of land, roughly twice the size of Washington, D.C., that a group of barbaric terrorists, on October 7, launched an unprecedented, dastardly attack by land, sea, and air on the people of Israel.
Newscasts and news stories have thoroughly covered the magnitude, sophistication and, above all, the cruelty and inhumanity of the attack.
After days of continuous, devastating air strikes on Gaza, it is expected that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) will momentarily launch a massive ground invasion of Gaza with the explicit goal of totally destroying Hamas’s military capabilities, along with an attempt to rescue the more than one hundred hostages Hamas has taken into Gaza.
Israel nor the world have any illusions as to how difficult this operation will be.
The Atlantic Council:
• …Gaza is densely populated, and in urban combat it is difficult to avoid civilian casualties. There is also no guarantee that civilians will heed the warning…
• The only way for Israel to achieve its goal of eliminating Hamas’ military capabilities is house-to-house, block-to-block urban warfare. It will likely involve both conventional and special operations forces moving methodically through the area to eliminate the terrorist threat and destroy any and all military capabilities, from communications gear to weapons stocks. This could take several months given the size of Gaza, the number of terrorists willing to fight, the extent of terrorist weapons caches, and the size of the civilian populace…
• A [hostage] rescue operation in Gaza would be difficult. The hostages are likely dispersed and the threat from small arms fire and shoulder-fired weapons such as rocket-propelled grenades and man-portable air-defense systems make a helicopter-borne mission unlikely given the risks.
• An Israeli invasion of Gaza will face an enemy that has built a formidable armoury with Iran’s help, dug a vast tunnel network to evade attackers and has shown in past ground wars it can exact a heavier toll on Israeli troops each time.
• …Hamas has shown its ability to survive and surprise, and will be fighting in a dense urban setting with powerful weapons.
• …scores of Israeli hostages seized by Hamas on Oct. 7 could now be held in the warren of tunnels that Israeli troops call the “Gaza Metro” and which soldiers must clear to destroy Hamas.
• Most of the targets, people, equipment, logistics are located underground and it’s possible the hostages are located underground…The purpose will be to flatten the ground to then be able to get to the underground bunkers.
• …Israel’s bunker buster bombs and hi-tech Merkava tanks will be up against booby-trapped tunnels, fighters using the underground network to strike and vanish, and a range of Hamas weaponry that includes Russian-made Kornet anti-tank missiles that Israel first reported used in 2010.
The world’s attention will be riveted on that “narrow strip of land” during the next few days, weeks, months.
Many of us are unfamiliar with the geographic and demographic features of that troubled piece of land.
Visual Capitalist has just published an excellent map of Gaza, looking at the Gaza Strip “from a structural point of view, delving into elements such as geography, infrastructure, and demographics.”
It should be a good tool to help one better understand what this author fears will be the dreadful events that are about to occur on that ill-fated “narrow strip of land.”
