(gentle music)
(soldiers speaking in foreign language)
- We are at a training facility in the south desert
of Israel, and it's here that soldiers are preparing
for the urban combat that they'll soon face
if and when there is an incursion into Gaza.
(Colonel Burstein speaking in foreign language)
(strike booming)
Israel has vowed to kill everyone involved
in Hamas' surprise attacks on October 7th.
The military now says it's ready
for a ground offensive to further their aim.
(tank booming)
- How do we prepare?
Look, we have our intelligence
and we have our training and we know what we're up against.
(strike booming)
- The Israeli air and artillery bombardment
of Gaza has killed civilians
and laid waste to entire neighborhoods.
(strike booming)
Human rights groups have criticized their tactics.
Many Western officials are urging caution
as a full-scale ground assault could result
in more civilian casualties.
(tank booming)
Here's how they're preparing to fight.
(soldiers shouting)
Many of the soldiers we're talking to
are very excited about this fight.
They want to push into Gaza.
They want to avenge the people
that were killed on the October 7th attacks.
- We need to do it.
They will know that everybody know
that thing like that cannot happen
and will not happen again.
And if something like that will happen again,
they will be a big, big react
and they need to know it, everybody.
We are understanding the tactic that they have.
We are preparing our ourself mentally and physically.
- Environments like Gaza City can be brutal battlefields.
(weapons shooting)
Snipers can find ideal high ground,
collapsed buildings can slow the movement of heavy armor
and make troops more vulnerable to drone attacks.
And beneath it all, a sophisticated network
of tunnels gives Hamas fighters hidden routes,
ambush points, and a place to hide hostages.
(Colonel Burstein speaking in foreign language)
Israel cut off nearly all supplies of food, water, fuel,
and electricity to the Gaza Strip
in response to the October 7th Hamas attacks.
Human rights groups say many strikes so far
have been indiscriminate and unlawful.
(strike booming)
Israeli forces have been training
in this mock Palestinian village,
complete with its own tunnel network.
Officially named the Urban Training Center,
to soldiers, it's known as Little Gaza.
It's a tiny little city,
completely fake in the middle of the desert.
It's got minarets for mosques.
It's got a fake school, it's got a fake hospital.
It is a complete recreation
of what the Israeli Defense Force see as the enemy villages
that they'll soon have to infiltrate and fight in.
(solider speaking in foreign language)
- Everyone here understands the purpose
why we're here.
- [Ben] Soon many of these soldiers
will be fighting in Gaza,
and the worry for many of them is that once they move
into that urban combat,
things will get a lot more dangerous and complicated.
- Even though there is fear
and even though there is complexity from a tactical warfare,
we know what to do.
(dramatic music)