The Hummer galloped in complete darkness on the dirt axis. The driver, wearing night vision devices over his eyes, made his way quickly. Suddenly, on the right, a powerful explosion was heard and a light flashed and illuminated the sky. A burst of gunfire was heard. The soldiers of the Golani Patrol who accompanied us are not moved. Not anymore. Welcome to Gaza.
We had made our way into the Gaza Strip a few hours earlier. The last rays of the sun flashed as we headed west on the dirt road, past what was left of the houses of Kibbutz Be'eri. The soldier beside us cocked his weapon and inserted a bullet into the chamber. The route on which we drove to the front shield (a compound surrounded by walls and mounds of sand that are supposed to protect against gunfire), located within spitting distance of the Sajaiya neighborhood, is under Israeli control – but control is an elusive concept in the Gaza Strip. The day before, a meter shaft from our target was discovered. So there's no telling what else is hidden in the field.
IDF forces in Gaza. Control is an elusive concept, photo: IDF Spokesperson
Driving off-road. Explosions, lights and shootings, photo: Hanan Greenwood
Just before entering there was also an exciting closure. Fadida, a reserve soldier in the Golani unit who serves in the alpinist unit and accompanied an article in Israel Hayom on Mount Hermon about a year ago, painted his white weapon black and came to fight in Gaza. "In the snow on Mount Hermon or in the mud in Gaza, the Golani Patrol is here forever," he said.
Exactly two months have passed since thousands of Hamas terrorists invaded the Gaza envelope and the horrific massacre of men and women, the elderly, young people and innocent children. It is only symbolic that these days Golani fighters, who suffered dozens of deaths on Black Saturday, are attacking with full force in a neighborhood that has become a symbol.
Fedida. A surprise from Mount Hermon, photo: Hanan Greenwood
The ceremony for awarding "The Tiger" pins to Golani Patrol fighters deep inside the Gaza Strip, photo: IDF Spokesperson
The Rebbe popped up in Gaza
Sejaiya is one of the most fortified targets the Brown Brigade has known since the beginning of the war. The neighborhood is extremely dense, with a casbah in its center and home to the terrorist battalion, considered the strongest in the Gaza Strip. The commander of the Sejaiya Battalion, Wissam Farhat, who was assassinated a week ago, commanded terrorists who attacked Golani fighters in Operation Protective Edge in the battle of the APC disaster in which six fighters fell and Oron Shaul's body was kidnapped. It was he who also sent hundreds of terrorists to massacre Nahal Oz and the nearby outpost. In recent weeks, understanding that this is a critical target of the IDF, he has fortified his positions in the neighborhood.
75% of the neighborhood's residents fled, including several hundred terrorists, but there are still many hundreds of terrorists hiding there. The IDF understands that Hamas also sees Sejaiya as a symbol, and therefore they were not surprised by the strength of the resistance. At the same time, they admit that what worries them more is the underground – an entire city of terror tunnels that lies beneath the neighborhood and endangers the fighters. For this reason, the forces are advancing cautiously, using a great deal of intelligence and the assistance of aircraft attacking less than 200 meters of military vehicles to clear the area.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe and Magen David. Here we pray, Photo: Hanan Greenwood
We arrive at the defender and unload the vessels in order to join the deputy commander of the Golani Brigade, Lt. Col. Ohad Moyal, in the heart of the notorious neighborhood - but the battles taking place there do not allow this. Technical crews run around the complex, repairing armored vehicles, replacing APC engines and tank protection panels in the heavy darkness. Dozens of vehicles hit by RPG missiles are being repaired in real time and returned to combat. The war room, located in one of the buildings, is investigating a fierce battle. Outside the door, we discover an improvised tefillin stand set up among the rubble of buildings. "The Messiah is coming," flashes a picture of the Lubavitcher Rebbe next to a Star of David.
Fighters who come to the defense tell us about difficult battles taking place inside Sejaiya. Already, the forces are seeing a decline in the determination of the terrorists, but the hornet's nest is far from being cleansed. "We encountered an IED scene," said one of the fighters as he boarded a Hummer en route to Israel.
IDF Spokesperson issues warning to commanders of the Sejaiya Battalion, photo: from Twitter
Tough days
"The number of our encounters is very high," says Lt. Col. Moyal, a veteran of the war. Golani has been at the forefront of the fighting since October 7, but he, too, admits that Sejaiya is a bigger event than they have seen so far. Golani fighters tried to deceive the terrorists and surprise them with various tactics, but in recent weeks the terrorists have managed to prepare to some extent. In practice, the brigade's fighters are fighting against three skilled Hamas battalions – the Zeitoun Battalion, the Daraj Tufah Battalion and the Sajaiya Battalion. True, this is not a fighting force on par with the IDF, but one that operates as a military body in every respect. "It's been a very tough few days here," he says. "Sejaiya is a symbol for them as well."
It should be noted that all the battalion commanders here fought in Operation Protective Edge. "We have an unresolved debt," the commander explains. "There is a monument here to mark what for us is the APC disaster in Protective Edge, which includes a dummy APC and discs. I promise you that before we leave here this monument will not be. We've seen her in pictures, we hope to see her soon with our eyes.
"We are fighting in the heart of Sejaiya. Our encounters were mainly on the roads and mostly in daylight, because they are afraid to go out at night. They fire RPG missiles from the alleys or detonate IEDs and flee. Dozens of missiles were fired at us, but the vehicles are driving and most of the soldiers aren't hurt."
IDF Spokesperson: "We eliminated terrorist Wisam Farhat, who was responsible for the APC disaster in Protective Edge" // Photo: IDF Spokesperson
"It is felt that the battalion is stronger than the other battalions we fought, but that cannot defeat the Golani Brigade," clarifies the deputy commander of the brigade. "These are attacks by small squads, four or five people trying to shoot and escape. We found Hamas vests and weapons in a school where there were refugees who had left before the fighting. They leave the mosques, schools and cemetery and shoot. We were not surprised by what we saw, we came prepared. In about 48 hours, we killed about 130 terrorists. We severely damaged their infrastructure. Their homes and cars are destroyed, and in the end, every infrastructure connected to Hamas was destroyed."
According to the estimates of the forces on the ground, it will take about a week and a half to complete the activity in Sejaiya. Of course, this is not about clearing up the entire threat, including the underground city beneath the neighborhood. Although the terrorists took advantage of the ceasefire to organize, the IDF also took advantage of the opportunity to plan the attack in depth.
"The ceasefire didn't interest us. We had time to prepare the brigade for the next fighting. As far as we are concerned, this is a war of existence to eradicate evil," says Lt. Col. Moyal with great determination. "As someone who was a company commander here in 2014 and left seven fighters here and Oron Shaul, who was my driver, it's clear that we belong to this place. This time we are with a force dozens of times greater and we will hit them severely."
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