Urban Warfare: The Recent Israeli Experience

Abstract

This article analyzes the evolution of urban warfare tactics, technologies, and approaches in Israel. The article briefly addresses the nature and constraints of modern urban warfare, examines Israel’s early experience with urban warfare during the 1982 Lebanon War, and then describes and assesses the development of Israeli urban warfare in a range of wars and operations starting with Defensive Shield in the West Bank, then moving to the Second Lebanon War and then addressing a number of conflicts between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip between 2007 and 2021. This article will also identify a few overarching trends in the evolution of Israeli urban warfare.