CENTRE FOR AIR POWER STUDIES

However, the situation changed with the Arab Spring, the spread of Iran's influence, and the rise of radical Islam in the resulting void.4 More so over the years, Israel has reduced strength and invested in a technologically advanced army, but actual conflicts require boots on the ground. [...] India even established a similar system at a significant cost of approximately ₹2000 Crores in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in 2004-2005 with large recurring costs subsequently.8 The goal was to reduce the number of terrorists from about 4000-4500 to fewer than 1000, with approximately 225 terrorists in Kashmir today; the target seems to have been largely met.9 There are several lessons; the Ind. [...] The ground commander in Gaza, has boots on the ground, intelligence and strike capabilities in the air, and is capable of acting at the right place and time to neutralise terrorist threats, one target at a time. [...] Secondly is the strategy to counter the same in terms of detection and neutralisation of the same. [...] On the other side, the targeted elimination of Hassan Nasrallah and top leadership of Hezbollah, along with the initiation of ground operations by the IDF against Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon, as well as the killing of Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, may represent critical turning points in the conflict.