Lt. Col.
Yitzhak (Itzik) Cohen took command of Division 162, the powerful decisive division of the IDF. A few days after the outbreak of the war in Gaza, the commander of the Southern Command, Major General Yaron Finkelman, chose the 162nd Division to lead the IDF's ground maneuver to the Gaza Strip. All the brigades and units of the division took a substantial part in the battles in the first 24 hours to liberate the settlements and outposts on the Gaza border.