chapotraphouse

Generally speaking, better equipment and training provides an enormous tactical advantage. The Israelis have that in spades.

But they've also got an army full of kids who joined the IDF for self-promotion, for residency, for hooking up with that hot tail posted on the recruitment flier. They're not fighting for survival and they don't want to walk out of this maimed or killed.

The Palestinians have no such delusion, particularly in the wake of the latest bombardments. They're starving. They're desperate. They're mad as hell. Their fight is existential and they've got nothing to lose but their chains.

Vanishingly few IDF soldiers would actually trade their lives for a dozen Palestinians. Quite a few Palestinians would consider it a good death if they could take even one IDF soldier with them. This psychology informs their tactics and their real operating capacity as an occupying force.