The end of July this year.
A little after midnight.
For hundreds of Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the Gaza Strip it was another night of hunting schools of fish and casting nets into the depths of the sea in an attempt to earn money.
However, "red lights" were lit for the HML soldiers observing at the navy base in Ashdod. It is reasonable to suspect that the unusual activity close to the Egyptian border may lead to maritime smuggling for the Palestinian terrorist organizations in Gaza. The hours passed. The tension increased. And the wasps in the middle of the sea carried out a naval ambush that allows them to see the area without being visible to the Palestinians. Any small mistake will expose them. With helmets, jackets, heat, humidity, the height of the waves, the wind, the vessel shaking from side to side - they are alert and focused on the goal of stopping the smuggling.
Around 06:22, the HML soldiers on the beach and the commander of the "Kasif" patrol, Capt. David Hafzadi, succeeded in building a complete maritime picture that reveals the Palestinian smuggling operation. A few seconds later, alarms and a sharp beeping sound were activated on the vessel. On the communication network, the roar of the commanders was heard The tools: "battle positions", an order that steps all the fighters who move into battle positions with the rifles, machine guns and the Typhoon cannon. Charge towards the fishing boat.
Alert and focused on the goal - to stop the smuggling.
Documentation (photo: IDF spokesman)
A game of chess lasting at most a minute and a half in which any mistake will allow the smugglers' boat to escape the navy's fire, reach the shore and unload the secret cargo.
The fighters rowed into contact to stop the fishing boat but the Palestinians continued at full speed towards the Rafah beaches to escape.
At this point, Captain Hefzadi gave the order to switch to using fire.
A warning shot was fired in accordance with the orders, the smugglers jumped from the boat into the water, began to swim towards the shore, and then the command was given to a fighter operating a typhoon cannon to open fire and sink the boat that caught fire and began to sink.
In those minutes, another drama began.
The smugglers gathered on the beach, were joined by others, and together they prepared for the possibility of diving back to the place of the sinking - which raised the assessment that this was a very valuable cargo for the Nuh'ba forces, which are the elite unit specializing in naval activity in the military arm of Hamas.
Therefore, it was decided in a very unusual way to secure the area of the sinking, and to jump in the Hilatam fighters, the underwater activity unit, before the smugglers were able to remove the cargo from the submersibles. At the end of nerve-wracking hours, activating robots and divers, the Hilatam fighters managed to locate the boat at a depth of 17 meters and to identify in it engines and other means for the Hamas naval unit.
After assessing the situation in the field, it was decided to destroy them with an underwater explosion that would end the long night by successfully thwarting smuggling.
"The whole smuggling story is between a minute and a minute and a half."
Ashdod base commander Col. Eli Sohulitsky (photo: IDF spokesman)
The full story of the smuggling of secret cargo from Egypt to the Gaza Strip began shortly after Operation Wall Guard in May 2021. For 12 days, IDF forces attacked the terrorist organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad from the air and on the ground. Apart from the fact that high-rise buildings, offices, headquarters, outposts were destroyed , bunkers, tunnels and hundreds of operatives and commanders in the terrorist organizations - the main damage was the destruction of rocket stocks, anti-tank missiles, mortar bombs, ammunition, rocket production workshops, machines and raw materials.
After the dust of the battle settled and Hamas carried out damage control, they began an effort to build up an arms race, but this time, unlike previous rounds of fighting, they did not have too many smuggling routes from Egypt to Gaza.
The land of tunnels that was built under the Philadelphia axis that separates the Egyptian Rafah from the Palestinian Rafah and was the main oxygen pipeline, was destroyed by the Egyptian army in recent years.
Egyptian families were evacuated from the area and the place was designated as demilitarized.
Also, the Rafah crossing is under the control of the Egyptians who make it difficult to smuggle weapons, so most of what is left for Hamas and the GAP are the smuggling routes from the sea.
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In the video: the foiling of smuggling from Egypt to the Gaza Strip by the 916th squadron of the Navy (IDF spokesman)
The task of preparing to thwart maritime smuggling was assigned to the commander of the Ashdod base, Col. Eli Sohulitsky, a vigorous officer with a lot of operational experience, whose subordinates often joke behind his back that he has spent more time at sea than on land. As early as February, Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi defined the sequence of countermeasures "As a naval campaign" most of it was conducted below the noise threshold and away from the media.
This campaign was led by Col. Sohulitsky through the diverse forces at the Ashdod base with the assistance of the Southern Command, the Intelligence Division, the Shin Bet, Sheitat 13 and other units.
The main concern is that advanced weapons, technologies and systems will be smuggled out that will help the terrorist organizations in the future war against the IDF.
At the focus of the intelligence collection and monitoring in the field were the terrorist organizations, but on the other hand, there were also well-known Palestinian clans throughout the Gaza Strip that are engaged in fishing and at the same time smuggling tobacco, cigarettes, drugs, and people from the sea.
In recent months, the IDF has succeeded in arresting the senior leaders of the smuggling gangs. "The need for the building of the force is a significant need for Hamas after Operation Wall Guard - they are having difficulty producing IML in Gaza. There is an increase in motivation, an increase in attempts, and a ceaseless occupation on the Palestinian side to smuggle." , explained the commander of the naval base in Ashdod.
"A fisherman earns NIS 20 a day - compared to thousands of dollars from a good smuggler, so he has no problem taking risks."
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The Palestinians have a legal and approved fishing area and within it they are divided into areas according to clans.
The best known in Gaza is the Bacher clan and in Rafah - the Bardeville clan.
These are fishermen who most of the time are engaged in fishing, but some of the time they work for smuggling from Egypt.
"Sometimes we see the Hamas police separating them in the sea because there is a dispute over 'grazing' areas in the sea," said the commanders at the Ashdod base, adding that as soon as they crossed the border area they would first meet the navy forces and if they crossed right into the southern area they would encounter patrol ships Egyptians.
The smugglers' boats are ordinary fishing boats and therefore they manage to blend in with the space of hundreds of similar fishing boats.
"There is a very big and complex challenge here to locate the smugglers' boats," said the commander of the Ashdod base.
"The fishermen will throw a net, fish for fish and when they are caught crossing the border they will see the fish as goods and in their mind they will not suspect them. They are also able to throw the contraband into the water just so we don't stop them. "They also try to smuggle diving equipment, and engines.
These are people who are ten years old.
They know us.
They are very experienced.
They know how to take the chase to very dangerous places and really close to the shore so that we endanger our vessels (a decade ago an Egyptian patrol ship was shot down and sunk off the coast of El Arish by an anti-aircraft missile). In the sea, unlike on land, there are no paths. There are no paths. If you don't analyze The space is right, he can run away from you. It hasn't happened so far."
After the operational successes, it was decided at the top of the IDF to help the general effort of the Ashdod base in Modi'in. For longer hours, unmanned aircraft patrol over the border areas in the middle of the sea - and identify abnormalities of advanced sensors and radars.
The bulk of the operational load is on the 916 squadron under the command of Lt. Col. Roi Gardosh and under him the bee and wasp vessels of the fin unit.
Documentation of thwarting smuggling (photo: IDF spokesperson)
"They are our tip," said Col. Sohulitsky. "The whole smuggling story is between a minute and a minute and a half.
You must correctly assess what is happening or you will not sail to the right place.
You will not estimate the duration of the smuggler's crossing.
It is important to understand that sometimes I stop him just for crossing.
As soon as he goes out into the forbidden space he is defined as a target.
And the Palestinian fishermen?
Looking for indulgences.
Their art is to get close to the shore and sail along it without getting too close.
Also knowing that we have quite a few preventive actions.
There is sometimes a deterrent shot and then they return to the shore for fear of being arrested."
Most of the smugglers work without organizational affiliation, but for those who pay them. In some cases they would prefer not to work for Hamas or Islamic Jihad directly but through a third party as an intermediary so as not to set them up Criticism Last week, the Hamas police announced that they had thwarted the smuggling of drugs from Egypt to Gaza by sea, so it can be estimated that this is a smuggling ring that did not want to help them in secret smuggling.
"I am proud of these officers and soldiers," said the commander of the Ashdod base in an interview on the beach.
"They have to not only comply with the mission but with the conditions and instructions - there are criteria, for example the instructions to open fire. They have to combine radar control, observations, command several vessels at the same time, in the dark, position them correctly, and if several Palestinian boats try to cross at the same time you To make correct decisions and to speak clear, structured Hebrew for everyone.
Sometimes they can find themselves commanding crews of the 13th Fleet at sea.
On the other hand, I want to mention that the Palestinians do a lot of diversions and frauds - and to stop them, you have to maneuver close to them.
If there is a bomb in the bottom of the boat then the security of my forces is above all else.
For me?
They are all my children.
It's enough that I have probable cause to believe that he's a terrorist, then the event is over.
This is not smuggling.
It's a terrorist.
different conduct".
In the eyes of the commander of Squadron 916, Lt. Col. Roi Gardosh, the professional level and familiarity between the fighters on the bees and wasps is a force multiplier. "The organicity of the teams is a must and is reflected in every activity.
They know each other very well.
If one points to the other on the shoulder he will immediately know what he meant.
This happens after a lot of training and activity, so it shortens our schedules.
The actions are sharp and very professional.
Everyone knows about an automaton and what it does.
Including the chief (responsible for operating the engines and generators of the bee - AB)".
"Everyone is alert - sometimes they are at sea for 72 hours or more"
According to the commander of the Ashdod base, there are quite a few command dilemmas in the heart of the sea.
"For example, a leak in the engine while smuggling. In a regular security operation, I would turn back, but in smuggling? That's a different story. Even at the cost of destroying an engine, I leave the engine running to thwart smuggling and do not turn it off."
Kasif patrol commander Capt. Dor Hafzadi describes the reality on top of the bee and the wasp.
"There is a blind understanding between the commander and the soldiers about how it happens and what exactly is happening. The commander does not see everything on the radar and he trusts them with his eyes closed.
In the end the chief will determine whether we will win the operation or not.
Everyone is alert.
It's not going from zero to a hundred.
They go from one hundred to one hundred and ten.
Sometimes they will be at sea for 72 hours or more.
You never know exactly when there will be a smuggling attempt.
And if you are not vigilant, you will become a bystander.
The challenge after we have identified it is to prepare for takeover, arrest or injury and destruction.
The opening fire instructions are clear.
If I have to shoot, I don't wait for approval.
I have the authority to do what is necessary.
We had very challenging sea conditions in the last few smuggling trips, to operate a radar with a wave meter, or a typhoon (a stabilized weapon system for warships developed and manufactured by Rafael) - the wind is not always nice and gives you a proper observation or the sea is comfortable. From the moment I located the smuggler I have to Decide how I go in to attack him.
We have experience because we are most of the time at sea.
Recognize exceptions.
I have been on the ship for four years and know the Gazans well and intimately.
I won't go into the names, but I know tools and numbers and know what something strange is and what he's doing there."
"We are constantly working - always sharp."
Sgt. Uriah Sternberg (photo: IDF spokesman)
At some point we descend into the bee's belly and sit around a table.
The bee is maintained and clean.
Next to the small table is a kitchenette.
"The most delicious food is served here - and it doesn't matter if you didn't know anything about food preparation, here you learn to do everything," Lt. Col. Gardosh said and smiled. Because we are in constant competition with the enemy."
After the visit to the bevors, we walked to the other end of the dock and met a fighter of the fin unit, Sgt. Uriah Sternberg, who was waiting on top of the Wasp. .b)", she said.
"We are constantly working. If you are at sea you have to be the sharpest. When you return from the sea you practice what you were less good at at sea. Are you good? You have moved to the next position. Then you educate everyone as a senior. The need is clear to us from the first moment. We do not just thwart The smuggling. We don't just protect the port. We have activities above and below the water. We protect the border so they don't enter Israel. It's not just that the Ashdod fin unit has the highest demand. It's exactly what I wanted and that doesn't mean the task here isn't difficult. We're always in the island Certainty. The environment is always changing."
The commander of the Ashdod base, Col. Eli Sohulitsky, was proud of the service of women as fighters in the 916th squadron and said: "At the end of the operation, Oriya will reach the smuggler first.
Even if he jumps out of the boat and swims she will stop him, handcuff him, put a flannel on him, sit him down, give him a glass of water and make sure he doesn't fall during the maneuver.
She will also fire if needed.
There is no difference between men and women.
between boys and girls.
As soon as they are forced with us, they will receive water, food, clothes, see a paramedic or a doctor, and they are respected.
Everyone here maintains values.
When they are with us - it's over.
Everyone knows." This week the IDF announced that Chief of Staff Kochvi will award the Ashdod base with an operational appreciation token for working in the campaign against smuggling by Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
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