Monday, January 12, 2009

Mughniyeh's "new school of fighting"

The excellent Amal Saad Ghorayeb writing for the Electronic Intifada:


Hamas' fighting style also seems to bear the hallmarks of the military tactics Hizballah used during the July War such as its use of underground bunkers and tunnel networks, as well as adopting similar rocket tactics, all of which suggest Hizballah's extensive training of Hamas' military forces. Nasrallah came close to admitting as much when he claimed on 31 December that "the resistance in Gaza benefitted more from these lessons [from the July War] than the Israelis." More than simply receiving military training, Hamas's military strategy appears to conform to the "new school of fighting" founded by Hizballah's assassinated military leader, Imad Mughniyeh (himself rumored to have personally trained and equipped several Palestinian groups over the years), which combines conventional and non-conventional, guerilla warfare that functions not only to liberate occupied territory, but to defend it from aggression.

This article is actually extremely good, if read carefully. On a side note which made me more impressed, I had checked the Wa3ad website prior to reading it and had noted how the banner now had a picture of Imad Mughniyeh on it, and an article by Ibrahim al Amin on the legacy of Mughniyeh and the result we find in Hamas' much improved performance against the Israeli invasion. I have said before and I will say again, when Hezbullah make a promise, they will keep it. They have promised a retaliation for Mughniyeh's death and that still hasn't happened yet. There is much much more coming. It was also interesting to see Ghorayeb's comment that Hezbullah have been much more scathing of an Arab regime than ever before, it looks like the gloves are off and the battle lines have been drawn. Those who are against Gaza are enemies. 

No comments: