So an Indian TV crew managed to film a Hamas rocket team doing their thing.
First of all, wow. That’s the use of the gazebo in urban warfare, right there. More seriously, I reckon the launch site is in dead ground from two or three sides, covered from view by the buildings and trees, unless you were directly overhead. Obviously the fourth side is the direction in which they are going to fire.
Second, the camera pans very fast over the launch site after the gazebo is removed, but you’ll notice that the rocket seems to be camouflaged even after that, right up to the instant of launch. This might be a constraint on range, as the launch is at a low angle (watch the smoke). This frame shows something sticking up under a bush dragged into place as concealment, but it’s steeper than the launch. Whatever it is, it’s about 2m long.
Third, the bloke at 02.39 probably doesn’t have to run very often, and isn’t going hungry in a society under siege either. I think this is a data point for the ideas that production and deployment are closely integrated that Hamas has successfully mobilised Gaza’s craftsmen.
Fourth, the camouflage was worth doing because the set-up was finished by 0630 local time, and the launch is (per TV) at 0750. And clearly, the notion of “launching pads” is silly. Anywhere with an open view to the north and some cover will do.
Fifth, the package editing doesn’t let us know how long the set-up took, but the gazebo – the COMBAT GAZEBO! – was put up overnight.
This is an interesting comment.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/paul-rogers/why-israel-lost
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many thanks for these posts on rocket strategy and Gaza. I dont know anything about the subject but find your way of using it as a prism to think about what Israel/Hamas are trying to achieve really useful. Likewise some of the links that readers are posting (e.g ‘Guano’s’ above) – for once I feel like I’m actually getting more light than heat in a post about Gaza. The other niggle that has been bugging me is the tunnels – sure I get the comparison with Viet cong techniques etc that journalists occasionaly signpost but …surely theres something else going on .. what do all these tunnels say about the effectiveness of Mossad and Shin Bet etc ?
Rockets and Tunnels.
We kept hearing that these tunnels were burrowing into Israel in order to carry out attacks but how many were actually carried out? It seems far more likely that the tunnels were in mostly in Gaza itself and were part of Hamas’ strategy that they adopted from Hezbollah’s highly successful employment of same in 2006 during Israel’s invasion of Lebanon. It would be interesting to see a breakdown of tunnels and tunnel networks going into Israel from Gaza vs those located entirely within Gaza but like the Iron Dome data withholding the overall number of engagements this is probably to useful for propaganda purposes to actually share.
Ugh, I’d give you my kingdom for an edit button but it ain’t much and I’ve already sold it to LGM for theirs.
And it’s now clear that I should have read Guano’s link above.