Operation Breaking Dawn: An Assessment
On the afternoon of Friday 4th August, the IDF launched Operation BREAKING DAWN, targeted strikes into Gaza against what Prime Minister Lapid described as an “immediate threat”. This is the first of the major Gaza conflicts (beginning with Operation CAST LEAD in 2008) in which Israel has launched a pre-emptive strike rather than responding to rocket fire from Gaza.
Click here to read the full textAn Interim Assessment Of The Gaza Conflict 10-21 May 2021
Examining the 10-21 May Gaza conflict, the findings of the High Level Military Group (HLMG) show that, as in previous Gaza conflicts, the proscribed terrorist entity Hamas, supported by Iran, launched an assault against Israeli civilians, part of the ongoing armed aggression against Israel. Despite a range of pretexts for this offensive there were no legitimate grounds of any kind.
Click here to read the full textIsrael’s Security Challenges Today: An Assessment
For this report the HLMG focuses on the emerging strategic military trends that surround Israel. These trends are ominous in nature, to the point that a multi-front attack on Israel in the near future cannot be ruled out.
Click here to read the full textSubmission by Col. (Retd) Richard Kemp CBE on behalf of The High Level Military Group to The United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the 2018 Protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Col Kemp gave oral evidence in Geneva in early December 2018 and submitted this report to the Commission of Inquiry.
Click here to read the full textSmoke & Mirrors: Six Weeks Of Violence On The Gaza Border
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Hamas’s use of actual smoke and mirrors to conceal its aggressive manoeuvring on the Gaza border is the perfect metaphor for a strategy that has no viable military purpose but seeks to deceive the international community into criminalising a democratic state defending its citizens. In reality these demonstrations are far from peaceful and do not pursue any so-called ‘right of return’. Rather they are carefully planned and orchestrated tactical operations by a terrorist organisation intending to break through the border of a sovereign state and commit mass murder in the communities beyond, using their own civilians as cover.
Hamas are explicitly planning to achieve maximum violence at the Gaza border on either the 14th or 15th May, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of the declaration of the State of Israel, the opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem and the start of Ramadan — a perfect storm.
A new report by the HLMG's Colonel Richard Kemp (United Kingdom), former Commander of British Forces in Afghanistan and international terrorism lead at the UK’s Joint Intelligence Committee, is the most in-depth assessment of the evolution of Hamas' strategic concept in its war on Israel.
As part of the High Level Group’s ongoing project to assess the impact of Western armies facing enemies deploying terrorist tactics, including deliberate war crimes such as hiding military personnel and infrastructure among a civilian population, Colonel Kemp has spent time on the Gaza border during the current spate of violence, observing Palestinian activity and IDF response.
The report is based on his observations as well as a review of material produced by both sides and by the international community, and discussions with Israeli government ministers and IDF commanders and lawyers. Colonel Kemp’s views are though entirely his own, drawn from extensive personal experience of commanding military forces dealing with similar situations in other combat areas, including use of terrorist tactics in riot situations and military response using a range of measures including lethal force.
A delegation of the High Level Home Front Group met with senior EU officials to discuss their findings related to what European nations can learn from Israel's experience with the domestic terror threat in Brussels on June 28th 2017. A public event to present their findings took place at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies
Keep calm and work with Israel to defeat the security threat from Islamic State
With the assault on Mosul into its eleventh day and an attack by the US and its allies on Raqqa imminent, Britain is locked in conflict abroad with an enemy that directly threatens our home front. Read more...Lawfare, the abuse of international norms and procedures and the judicialisation of international institutions to attain strategic goals that cannot be achieved by political and military means, has become a common feature in modern conflicts. It has evolved into a new weapon in the hands of our enemies seeking to constrain and limit the ability of Western armies to pursue our national security interests.
The High Level Military Group (HLMG) was formed in early 2015 with a mandate to address the implications for Western warfare of fighting enemies who disregard the Law of Armed Conflict (LOAC) but exploit our own nations' adherence to LOAC for their gain.
HLMG members have a wealth of experience at the very highest operational and policy levels as regards the conduct of warfare and its attendant policies.
Our purpose is to add a professional military and legal element to debates about warfare in the 21st Century, which at times have been ill-informed and politicised, and which are of vital importance to our own armies and alliance partners.