Rhizome manoeuvre

A rhizome manoeuvre is a surprise attack in a built environment, made from an unexpected direction, such as through a wall or floor.

[2] However, the criticism of writers such as Eyal Weizman,[6] and Flaherty,[7] emphasize the realities of moving through the urban built environment executing a rhizome manoeuvre, requires a force to assemble behind walls, under floors, or overhead on rooftops (using explosives, drills or hammers if necessary) in order to break through.

[11] As this involved small units of troops moving toward, and through opposing trenches, through infiltration of various weak points, in order to launch surprise attacks overwhelming the defenders.

In 1997, the US Army began to identify future warfare concepts, such as rhizome manoeuvres, describing: "Future land combat units will exploit terrain by maneuvering for tactical advantage within the folds and undulations of the earth's surface without suffering the restrictions imposed on mobility by contact with the ground.

"[12] Various applications of rhizome manoeuvres, have been developed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), during its operations; these have been the subject of critical analysis by Eyal Weizman, in particular his essay on lethal theory, which appeared as a chapter in his 2007 book Hollow Land: Israel's Architecture of Occupation, as "Urban Warfare: Walking Through Walls" (pp 185–221).