Military and strategic expert Major General Fayez al-Duwairi said that the Israeli occupation army is seeking to carry out a double maneuver in order to besiege the beach camp west of Gaza City and put it between the jaws of pincers, revealing the targets of the entry of new tanks and boats on the battle line.
Al-Duwairi explained – in the paragraph of his military analysis on Al-Jazeera – that there is an Israeli incursion from the northwestern side of the Gaza Strip that reached the outskirts of the Beach camp, where a fierce field battle took place after the scenes broadcast by the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement "Hamas".
He pointed out that the occupation army's focus on its attempts on the neighborhood of Tel Al-Hawa in southwestern Gaza comes in this context in order to rush towards the beach camp, pointing out that most of the shelling was concentrated in the area south of Wadi Gaza with the aim of finding weaknesses to achieve penetration and a foothold for the development of the ground operation.
In this context, according to Al-Duwairi, comes the ground maneuver carried out by the occupation army east of Khan Yunis, and indicated that a similar maneuver took place 48 hours ago, stressing that it is small in size, but it may turn the balance of the battle if it succeeds.
He added that the occupation army attacks at more than one point despite the difference in force, pointing out that if it succeeds at some point in the size of a tank company, then it can push a tank division to develop operations.
Regarding the use of mortar shells by the al-Qassam Brigades, al-Duwairi said that they are effective against hostile gatherings such as individuals, wheeled vehicles and military gatherings, but they do not live up to the effectiveness of RPG shells and others, noting that the effective range to confront tanks must be less than 100 meters.
Tanks & Canoes
He touched on the use of other tanks by the occupation army, unlike the "Merkava", including the Centurion tank, which is from the fifties of the last century, where it was modernized, its engine changed, laminated and shielded, indicating that its weight is 50 tons.
Regarding its mechanism of action, he explained that it has a rocket launch device with a range of between 65 and 150 meters, and uses incendiary bombs to open gaps in minefields with a width of 100 meters and a depth of up to 165 meters, and is used against tunnels and individuals.
In response to a question about the reasons for resorting to these missiles as long as aviation is available, Al-Duwairi explained that they are used in the event of some mines that have not exploded, and pointed out that this tank is well fortified to avoid tunnels and mines and pass on safe ground.
As for the entry of boats of several types in the battle, al-Duwairi explained that the Qassam Brigades succeeded in reaching the Zikim beach three times before, which indicates that Israel's beaches are unsafe.
He added that Israel has 18 large naval equipment and dozens of patrol boats that roam the waters for systematic bombardment and destruction against all kinds of life, cutting off access to Zikim and beyond.
The military expert stressed that what was thrown on the Gaza Strip in the ongoing war is more than 3 times what was thrown on Nagasaki, Japan, and twice as much as what was thrown on Hiroshima, if compared between the bombs dropped in World War II and the bombs of the current time.