What did Israel learn from its last ground invasion of Gaza?

Around 300,000 reserve soldiers have been mobilised by Israel, in what many have viewed as a prelude to a potential ground operation in Gaza. 

The last such land incursion occurred in the summer of 2014, ten days into a conflict that would last 50 days. 

Israeli forces killed an estimated 2,251 Palestinians across the duration of that war, including over 500 children. Seventy Israelis were also killed, the vast majority of whom were combatants. 

Israel succeeded in damaging underground tunnels, but on a wider level, it failed to deeply penetrate Hamas's infrastructure. It also came at a significant human cost. 

“Most militaries in the 21st century don’t want to do ground operations because it's massively costly to the side that launches it,” said Craig Jones, a senior lecturer at Newcastle University. 

Read more about how Israel's last ground operation had a significant toll on Israeli troops, and saw military lawyers play a role in the battle front: 

Ground invasion of Gaza: What Israel learned from last time