By Hezy Laing
In its ongoing campaign to dismantle Hamas’s entrenched infrastructure in Gaza, the IDF has unveiled a groundbreaking approach to urban combat—one that relies heavily on a sophisticated network of small and large unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
This new strategy, marks a dramatic shift in how the IDF identifies, targets, and neutralizes terrorist strongholds embedded within densely populated neighborhoods.
The IDF has developed a highly efficient and lethal new method for destroying buildings in Gaza using a two-stage drone tactic that dramatically reduces risk to soldiers and accelerates battlefield operations.
This approach begins with small drones—typically quadcopters—armed with miniature explosives.
These drones are flown directly over targeted buildings and used to punch a precise hole in the roof, creating an entry point.
Once the structure is breached, a larger drone follows, carrying dozens of kilograms of explosives, which it drops straight into the heart of the building.
The result is a rapid and total collapse of the structure from the inside out.
This method, nicknamed “ceiling-to-floor” by IDF units, replaces the traditional and dangerous practice of clearing buildings room by room.
What once required hours of painstaking work by combat engineers and exposed troops to booby traps and ambushes can now be accomplished in as little as three minutes.
The tactic has been widely deployed in areas like Khan Younis, where IDF paratroopers systematically leveled thousands of buildings used by Hamas for tunnel access and sniper positions.
By removing urban cover, the IDF aims to prevent militants from regrouping or reestablishing infrastructure.
This drone-led strategy reflects a broader shift in IDF doctrine—favoring precision, speed, and technological superiority over traditional ground combat in dense urban environments.
Before adopting its UAV-centric strategy, the IDF traditionally handled suspicious buildings in Gaza through manual entry and demolition, a method that exposed soldiers to significant risk.
Combat engineers and infantry units would approach suspected terrorist hideouts on foot, often relying on limited intelligence and visual cues.
Once inside, they would search for tunnel shafts, weapons caches, or booby traps—sometimes under fire.
If a building was deemed dangerous or strategically valuable to Hamas, it would be demolished using bulldozers or explosives, but only after troops had cleared it.
This approach, while effective in some cases, led to high casualty rates and prolonged engagements, especially in densely populated areas where Hamas fighters used civilians and infrastructure as shields.
The shift to UAV-guided operations has dramatically reduced these risks, allowing for remote assessment and precision strikes without direct exposure.
