Strategic Assessment

Scientific and technological advances have made various applications affordable, available, and easy to operate - including in the security realm. The article examines this development as it relates to the modus operandi of Hamas and its threat to Israel. The essay provides an overview of the events of mid 2018 to mid 2019 along the Gaza Strip border, from the beginning of the Marches of Return to the middle-to-high intensity fighting, and questions Hamas’s limited use of advanced, off-the-shelf products despite their accessibility; indeed, the organization clearly prefers to use primitive means of attack. The essay posits that restraining factors inhibit Hamas’s use of more advanced technologies in its struggle against Israel, including deterrent and psychological factors that discourage using advanced technologies, political restraint, the effect of classical means, and the power of inferior means over technological superiority.