At one of the junctions, deep in the Gaza envelope, heavily armed fighters stopped us. In front of us on the road adjacent to the Gaza Strip is an armored personnel carrier (Merkava APC). Heavy smoke rose from Gaza and explosions could be heard in the distance. "We'll take them apart," one of the soldiers told me with a broad smile, "just let me in."
IDF Chief of Staff in dialogue with commanders and fighters in the south: "I trust you, both on the wind and on the force" // Photo: IDF Spokesperson
Defense Minister Yoav Galant and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy visited the Gaza border yesterday. "There is a war between the Sons of Light and the Sons of Darkness here," Gallant told the fighters. "It will be a powerful and precise war. A deadly war that will change the situation forever."
The chief of staff told the fighters that "our mission now is to enter Gaza, to come to places where Hamas is preparing, operating, planning and launching, and to hit it very hard everywhere, in every commander, in every operative. Destroy infrastructure. In a word - forever."
The entire southern region has become a battleground in recent days. Tank transporters, trackers, Humvees and every weapon you can think of flood the terrain. Throughout the territory, tens of thousands of fighters are preparing for a ground incursion. Tanks move from place to place on caterpillars, raising smoke and dust On a day that began rainy and cleared, the fighters continued their preparations for the battle that awaits them. Carriers upon carriers make their way south, flags on the guns and a gleam in the eyes of the drivers.
The Julis camp is jammed with reservists' cars. Parking is not available. The sound of bullets rises from the shooting ranges constantly. "There's no way we're not going in this time," Eli, a reservist whose military service he still managed to do in the security zone, tells me. Outside the base, a red-headed reservist stands and raises his hand to hitch a ride. "Coming to the Tze'elim?" he asks, sighing when I announce I'm leaving for Sderot. "I have to get to the battalion's training, we go into Gaza."
The date for a ground incursion is still unknown, but there is a consensus among the fighters that this time the real thing is happening. No more rounds, no more promotions. "This time it's M-L-H-M-E," Yossi, a reservist from Jerusalem I pick up along the way, tells me. More than 100% of the reservists enlisted in the IDF. Adults and young people put on khaki uniforms and went out to the army.
We will drive from Sderot south, to the hardest hit communities. Forces are preparing throughout the area for a ground incursion, including within some communities. Outside the house in Kibbutz Be'eri, I meet three fighters from the 890th Paratroopers Battalion. "We've been here since last week. We also had encounters," one soldier shares briefly as he sits in an undamaged house between two houses where Israelis were murdered. "We are waiting to enter, to fight for the State of Israel. It's going to be fine."
As I leave the village, I meet Josh, a reserve soldier from the 5th Battalion Brigade. He is a Tel Avivian, a father of two, and says he voted for one of the centrist parties in the past. "I'm not usually eager for a fight. In Operation Protective Edge, I was cautious. This time, it's something else," he says, holding a commando knife stuck to his vest. "We're going in to tear them down," he declares.
Josh (right) and his fellow reservists, photo: Hanan Greenwood
"War of no choice"
This time it's the real deal, all the fighters repeat as I walk around the various sectors. Armored personnel and infantry fighters, regulars and reservists. Everyone is determined to go out and fight the enemy who murdered and massacred us.
Everyone knows someone who was murdered or one of his family members, and Zionism is raising its head again. "This is a war of no choice, fighting for home, literally," clarifies Itamar, who arrived on Sunday with his battalion near the Gaza Strip and is now preparing for fighting.
As the sun begins to fall on the south, we make our way back north, once again amazed at the extent of the forces. Transporters carrying tanks and D9 bulldozers pass in unimaginable numbers on the way south. On some of them the Israeli flag flies in the front of the vehicle, others are literally wrapped in blue and white. "Let the IDF mow," one intersection was handwritten.
Extensive IDF attacks in the Gaza Strip // Photo: IDF Spokesperson
We return to the Sderot area and look at the cloud of heavy smoke rising from Gaza City, evidence of another IDF attack on the city. IDF forces bomb Hamas facilities just before the big entrance. Israeli flags fly in every corner of the city, which suffered a major attack just a week and a half earlier. A line of Humvees race past the abandoned train station and one of them stops for a moment next to us, the Israeli flag waving above it as well. "It is clear to you that we will win," the fighters clarify, "yes?"
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