IDF infantry units suffered many losses in the first days of the war. The Golani Brigade lost 72 soldiers and the Nahal Brigade killed 22 fighters and wounded hundreds more in the battles that halted the murderous Hamas offensive on 7 October.
IDF Spokesperson: "We have updated the families of 212 abductees" // IDF Spokesperson
Those coping with the difficult statistics are the brigade's casualty officers, who from that deadly morning never stop worrying about the wounded soldiers and the bereaved families. "I wouldn't change the job," says Maj. Noy Margai, the Nahal Brigade's casualty officer. "I am proud to be a casualty officer with all the complexity and difficulty. I feel a huge mission."
Noy was at her parents' home in Sderot on Friday, October 6, celebrating Simchat Torah with them, and the next day an alarm caught her while she was at her home in Be'er Yaakov. "About half an hour later, I received a message that our officer had been seriously injured in the Kerem Shalom sector," she says. "I contacted the brigade commander and the commander of the reconnaissance battalion to get details, and they were already on their way to activity. I realized there was a complex incident, put on my uniform and drove towards Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, understanding that the wounded man would get there."
"I was working on an automaton." Margai,
Little did Noy know at the time that this would be the last phone call she would have with Brigade Commander Col. Jonathan Steinberg z"l and with the commander of the cruiser Jonathan Tzur z"l, who would fall in battle in the envelope shortly thereafter. Nor did she know that Sderot, which a few hours earlier had been quiet and solemn, had become a bloody shooting scene.
"When I was in Soroka, I realized that my parents, two sisters and their families were hiding in a shelter in Sderot and that the terrorists were roaming the streets," she recalls. "At some point they put the phone on silent mode for fear that someone would hear, and in the background I see bursts of gunfire, an unpleasant experience at all. I tried for a moment to neutralize myself and not lose my temper, but then wounded people from the Gaza Division, where my brother Idan serves, started arriving at the hospital. I managed to get in touch with him and realized he was fine, but the combination of home and the job was very powerful."
When did you realize that the brigade commander and the commander of the cruiser were not alive?
"At the hospital, I understood that there was an incident with the senior command echelon and I tried to talk to the commanders. Everyone made contact except for the brigade commander and the battalion commander, and then I tried to figure out if anyone had spoken to them lately, and after a few minutes I understood the situation. Soroka, besides the wounded, also received casualties."
IDF forces outside the Sderot police station, photo: AP
Did you recognize them?
"It's a complicated question, but the answer is 'yes' and at that point I was working on an automaton. I understood that this was the order of the day."
"Thousands of phones and messages"
At that moment, in the same hospital, Maj. Shir Nadel, the casualty officer of the Golani Brigade, was already running around from her home. She quickly realized that the brigade's situation was difficult since the 51st Battalion was located at an outpost near Kibbutz Kissufim, while the 13th Battalion took up a position near Kibbutz Nahal Oz.
"As a mother, my attitude toward the job is different." centipede
"I met parents whose children didn't answer them, and they just set off trying to figure out if they had come to the hospital," says Maj. Nadel. "I received thousands of calls and messages from families, friends and acquaintances trying to get information, and unfortunately we didn't know how to give answers other than to say that the son was on the lists, but at the moment we don't know what happened to him. We did not report without a reliable source who could tell where the soldier was and how he was doing. There was a family that came to the hospital and suddenly the son arrived, and you see the happiness and relief on your face. A whole world."
During the first few hours, the officers not only treated the brigades, but also helped the hospital staff understand who was coming, because the number of wounded was large. They tried to locate names, which unit the soldiers belonged to. Whoever could speak was given the opportunity to inform the family of his condition.
"There was a soldier whose degree of injury was complex, and as he arrived, I saw that he was conscious," says Maj. Margai. "I took the phone, dialed his mother and made sure he updated her. After an hour, the mother arrived and I was the accompaniment and support she needed in those moments. When he came out of surgery, I accompanied her to the recovery room and saw the joy in her eyes. For me, these little moments are worth everything."
IDF soldiers near the Gaza Strip,
These are not easy sights. In recent weeks, the officers had to help bereaved families whose world had been destroyed, and soldiers who would need long and exhausting rehabilitation. They should serve as stable ground even when the interior is shaking.
"We pretty much knew how we would act when an emergency encountered us, but no one thought it would be at this intensity and intensity," says Maj. Nadel. "The numbers are unimaginable, we tried to concentrate on the task and the job. You don't work like a robot, because when you're faced with people waiting for help, you have to work at the peak of emotion."
Major Margai already has serious seniority in the position. She also served in the field during Operation Protective Edge, about nine years ago. "I was a young casualty officer at the time," she says. "Today, as a mother of children, my attitude toward the role and my understanding are completely different. I know what it means to be a parent."
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