Jerusalem Day Amidst Guerilla Warfare

The celebration of the reunification of Israel’s capital and the liberation of Judea and Samaria is called Jerusalem Day, which has been observed since May 12 1968.

This year, it was celebrated on May 25, 2025 with a prayer service and the unfurling of a giant Israeli flag at the center of the Western Wall Plaza. Notable rabbis were present, as well as Jerusalem's Mayor Moshe Leon, and Western Wall Heritage Foundation Director Mordechai Eliav.

“Greetings from Israel’s eternal and undivided capital, the holy city of Jerusalem,” US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said in a video message posted on X. “Beginning this evening is Yom Yerushalayim, also known as Jerusalem Day. The United States is proud to join our close ally @Israel in celebrating the 58th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem. @POTUS reaffirmed the historic connection of the Jewish people to Jerusalem that goes back over 3,500 years when he had the moral clarity to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s eternal capital and then move the US Embassy to Jerusalem.”

Yet, the war still rages, which makes commemorating these pieces of heritage all the more vital. Every celebration defies the brutal antisemitic attack of Hamas on October 7, when terrorists pierced the land meant to be a safe haven from the horrors of antisemitism.

Early on in the war, Hamas would ambush Israeli soldiers as they went down the streets, but now Hamas relies almost entirely on guerilla warfare tactics.

I24 News reports, “Hamas continues to follow guerillas’ principle, to fight only when there’s an advantage, which often means retreating rather than advancing when the IDF advances.” Hamas uses ambushes and hit and run attacks.

 “A key component for any insurgency is the terrain in which it can hide itself. No terrain is more dense and difficult to operate in than a city. Not only does it provide an insurgent with alleys and tunnels and mouseholes to travel unseen through, but the environment provides ample attack opportunities from every angle.”

And though Hamas is up against a superior force in the IDF and they’re taking a beating on the tactical level, the strategic element is more in question.

“Like other insurgencies before it, Hamas doesn’t seek to dominate the battlefield, but rather to outlast its opponents while bleeding them of the will to fight through casualties,” says i24. 

Hamas regularly attacks the IDF from a distance with the use of stand-off weapons, such as sniper rifles and RPGs (including anti-tank rounds), especially when troops are inside buildings. Yet the rocket power at Hamas’ disposal is far less effective as it once was. 

IEDs (improvised explosive devices) are routinely used by Gaza’s armed factions, and have been responsible for a number of IDF fatalities recently.

Hamas scavenges explosives from Israeli bombs that don’t explode (similar to the one-off tactics that took place in Iraq).

“Every insurgency is as much a political contest as it is a war, and for that reason the information in battle is critical,” reports i24, echoing our report on Hamas’ use of social media in last week’s Dayton Leader.

Moreover, Hamas’ practice is to equip its fighters with go pros, then editing the footage to obscure the ending and cut out the actual damage caused to an IDF target.

Hamas subsequently leverages information against its enemies, gaining the blind sympathies of the West as they themselves languish in a cult of martyrdom by using the same tools on its own people.

So effective is this use of psychological warfare that, “Hamas has recruited the same number of fighters to its ranks as Israel has killed in the war.”

The question now, says i24 News, is - “Is the progress Israel is making against Hamas’ insurgency sufficient and fast enough to destroy Hamas or to save the remaining hostages?”

Now, Israel is focusing on making Hamas run for cover, while considering how best to seize the areas of Gaza that would choke Hamas and see the hostages released. 

All the while, another deal to secure the release of the hostages has fallen through, a senior Israeli official said on Monday.

“Hamas is setting impossible conditions that mean a complete failure to meet the war goals, and an inability to release the hostages,” the official explained.

Despite this, the ongoing struggle continues, with Hamas exploiting the media and playing the world’s attention like a game, manipulating it to their advantage.