Jon Elmer on How Armed Palestinian Resistance Is Outsmarting Israel in Gaza

Journalist Jon Elmer joined Drop Site’s Tuesday livestream to dissect how armed Palestinian resistance fighters in Gaza have sustained one of the most sophisticated guerrilla campaigns in modern history—despite near-total siege, starvation, and a 640-day onslaught by Israel. Elmer explained that resistance units are locally organized, deeply embedded in the population, and have spent years preparing for precisely this kind of war. Fighters operate from tunnel networks and carry out precision ambushes using home-built weapons, manufactured from Israel’s own unexploded bombs. “They’ve gone in 8–10 times into Beit Hanoun and they can’t defeat the resistance,” he said, commenting on the latest ambush of Israeli soldiers that killed 5, and injured at least 14. Jeremy Scahill reveals leaked internal Palestinian assessments circulated among resistance factions about how Palestinian groups identified and co-opted Israeli surveillance devices planted during the January ceasefire—using them to feed false intelligence back to the Israeli army. “Israel is blind in Gaza,” Elmer explained. “No amount of bribes, no amount of money has contributed to the Israelis getting information about the captives.” Watch the full conversation between Jon Elmer and Drop Site’s Jeremy Scahill, Ryan Grim, and Murtaza Hussain. 0:00-12:49 Jon Elmer: Status of Palestinian Armed Resistance 12:50-18:13 Beit Hanoun Ambush and Guerilla Strategy Breakdown 18:14-34:49 How Hamas Manufactures and Sustains Its Arsenal 34:50-39:19 Does Israel “Control” 80% of Gaza?