In an opinion for The Washington Post, CERL Executive Board member General Joseph Votel discusses lessons learned from U.S. military operations in Fallujah, Mosul and Raqqa and how they can be applied to the Israel-Hamas war. Urban combat involving the presence of sophisticated tunnel networks, concentrated numbers of civilians, and hundreds of hostages will prove challenging for Israel as it continues its ground offensive.

General Joseph L. Votel, U.S. Army (Ret.) is the former Commander of the U.S. Central Command. He is a Distinguished Senior Fellow on National Security at the Middle East Institute and a member of the CERL Executive Board. Read his bio here.

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