Munk Dialogue with Robert Kaplan

October 17, 2023
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Munk Dialogue with Robert Kaplan

The challenge of urban warfare in Gaza

Israel is facing a wartime challenge unlike anything we have witnessed in modern history. The IDF is planning to invade Gaza in order to – in the words of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – “crush and destroy” Hamas after their devastating terrorist attack on Israel last week. This type of dense urban warfare, where the targets are insurgents hiding behind civilians and residential buildings, has rarely been successful for the invading armies. One need no look further than the Battle of Fallujah in Iraq in 2004 to see what Israel will be up against.

On this Munk Dialogue by celebrated author Robert D. Kaplan who was embedded up close and personal with the U.S. Marines as they stormed Fallujah and faced intense close quarter combat against thousands of insurgents inside a large Middle Eastern city.

Robert shares with us his experience of the siege of Fallujah and the lessons it holds for Israel as its military prepares for a ground assault on Gaza, along with thoughts on the risks of current war escalating region-wide.

“I see this as just absolute hell based on what I experienced in Fallujah. Because you’re dealing with hardened, well-trained, and disciplined adversaries. This can’t be anything but a mess”
-Robert Kaplan

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