In this episode of MWI’s Urban Warfare Project Podcast, John Spencer is joined by Dr. Daphne Richemond-Barak. She is an assistant professor at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy, and Strategy and heads the international law desk of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at IDC Herzliya. Most importantly to the podcast, she is the author of the book Underground Warfare and creator of the International Working Group on Subterranean Warfare.

When fighting periodically breaks out between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Israeli strikes often target Hamas tunnels. That raises a range of important questions. What advantages do subterranean environments lend to combatants? What military challenges do tunnels pose? More broadly, why is underground warfare occurring with increasing frequency? Dr. Richemond-Barak discusses these and other questions about the subterranean dimension of urban warfare.

You can listen to the discussion below or find the episode on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, or your favorite podcast app. Be sure to subscribe, and if you’re enjoying the Urban Warfare Project Podcast, please take a minute and leave the podcast a review or give it a rating!

Note: This episode was originally released in 2021.

Image credit: Israel Defense Forces