"We block terrorist attacks on a daily basis" - this is what the commander of a company from the Erez Battalion of Crossing Fighters, in which the late Noa Lazar served, told "Israel Today".
Michelle Kadosh, MP who arrived at the scene of the attack first, shared: "We have 3 companies in the battalion, and I am the MP of Company C. The attack happened in Company B. You have to understand that we with the companies are protecting the entire area of Jerusalem - so it took me 10 minutes to arrive at the scene as a responsible officer because of the distance. I received a call from the company commander who was there and rushed to the scene immediately.
When I reached the soldier Noa Lazar Zal who was killed, she had already been evacuated wounded.
Michel Kadosh
"Our fighters stop endless attacks every day,"
"It is a very critical point in the command in the field to get the fighters back on track as part of their responsibilities. That is why at this stage I gathered the female soldiers who were at the event, it is important to note that there were 7 female fighters there, all of them girls. I gathered the female fighters and encouraged them. I strengthened them a lot."
Were all the fighters at the event?
"There were 5 female fighters at the event and I am at this stage immediately collecting them, mentally organizing them and preparing them for investigating the event as well. It is not an easy situation, they have a female soldier that they do not know how she is doing, and they naturally worry about her. There was also a female fighter who was evacuated with an anxiety attack" .
The scene of the attack at the Shuafat checkpoint, photo: Yoni Rikner
how long have you been there
"We have 14 fixed crossings that we occupy 365 days a year, and we man the same checkpoints and each company has its own checkpoints that the fighters know like the back of their hands. It's always very hard work, people don't understand how many Shebaim we capture, how many firearms and cold weapons .
Our soldiers stop endless attacks every day, this is a point they don't understand about the role of the battalion."
How many crossing battalions are there?
"We have two battalions of crossing fighters. We, the Erez Battalion, occupy the entire Y-M envelope, which means that the companies are spread over the entire envelope, it is a huge area and a journey of about 40 minutes from side to side. After the attack, I had to arrive from my part in the area of Company B".
What do you do after such an attack? How was the battalion organized?
"We didn't know when the funeral was and we wanted to let the soldiers of Company B prepare properly, so Company A and C stretched to the limit on all the roadblocks and we also received reinforcements from BHD 13. In addition, the officers patrolled all the roadblocks and showed presence to strengthen the fighters and show that we The commanding force is at the forefront of the threats.
It's a rule that the command is always in front, that's how the whole holiday is."
Shuafat checkpoint after the attack, photo: AP
At the end of her words, Michelle says that "First of all, I want to express my condolences and hugs to the Lazar family and say that the battalion will be with them forever. We will always hug them and support them, they are our family from now on. Beyond that, I want to say to the Israeli public, that they don't always understand how hard work the checkpoints are. The public needs to understand that we prevent terrorist attacks and do not get glory for it."
were we wrong
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