This essay examines the Palestinian organization Hamas’ change of tactics from 2008 to 2014.
The methodology used is a case study of two conflicts between Hamas and Israel and the main focus is the land battle. To understand and explain Hamas’ change of tactics, a theory by Stephen Biddle is used. The theory is called the Modern System and explains victory and defeat in land operations. When fully used the Modern System reduces the exposure of military units to enemy fire.
The essay’s conclusions confirm that Hamas changed their tactics to a more regular type of warfare between the 2008 conflict and the one in 2014. Although they did not fully implement The Modern System into their tactics, they managed to reduce the soldiers’ exposure and therefore became less vulnerable to Israel’s technological weapons. Hamas managed to resist Israel’s bigger and more technological advanced army for a while during the 2014 conflict because of better use of the Modern System.