Terrorist attack in Nur al-Shams/IDF spokesman
At the beginning of the year 2023, Iranian money flowed in an unprecedented amount to IOSH. Hamas headquarters abroad decided to recruit terrorists on the ground without a process of rapprochement and loyalty to the organization and to pay an appropriate price for each attack.
The volume of recruitments was on the rise and thus the boldness and scope of the deadly attacks increased.
The commander of the Central Command, Major General Yehuda Fox, decided to change direction despite the criticism and the initial objections to change and return to the toolbox for the first time in Operation Protective Wall in 2002 the activation of targeted countermeasures from the air.
General Fox acted on two main axes.
The first: a very long and orderly battle procedure for a divisional operation in the refugee camp that was named "Home and Garden" led by the commando brigade and at the same time the establishment of an assault cell that would know how to protect the troops from the air 24/7 and would be available for operations that are defined as "removing a threat", but in practice they meet the definition of Targeted countermeasures that includes a remote manned aircraft operator (RTM) that receives intelligence information in real time and launches a missile at a junior and senior terrorist who intends to carry out attacks.
The "Zik"/spokesman for the IDF
The assault cell built in stages by Brigadier General Avi Blot, formerly commander of the IOS Division, was nicknamed after a predatory marine animal, and he assembled the best assault team in the IDF around him. "Why are we the best?
Because the cell is made up of instructors and tutors from the assault school and we were all commanders in the past," said the commander of the assault cell, Col. B. M., "we are the most experienced and the most professional in the field.
" ", there is a long series of exercises to connect the air forces, intelligence, operations and commanders in the field.
Very shortly before Operation Beit and Gan, it was decided to carry out the first "baptism of fire" for the attack cell and to authorize the operator to attack a vehicle containing terrorists who had left the Jenin refugee camp to carry out a shooting attack at the Jalma crossing. The three terrorists were killed. The
special operations officer of the Ayo Division "Sh, Major H., whose hands are very deeply involved in assembling the puzzle for the targeted odds, told about the process in a conversation with Walla!: "We set up a well-oiled system to deal with the process.
This is not something that existed before in the division and many factors had to be combined.
We went through a long process to create a common language with all the parties and also to give confidence to attack in very close proximity to our forces to remove a threat.
The main operational attacks were in Operation Home and Garden, we attacked 20 times from the air.
There, in fact, the breaking of the glass ceiling began.
We have proven that this is an existing capability.
It went into practice in the field while bringing all the capabilities of the IDF: such as anti-tank missiles, helicopter gunships and fighter jets."
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Commander of the assault cell, Col. M./IDF spokesman
After proving the capabilities in Operation Home and Garden, a long process of learning lessons and assimilating conclusions was carried out in the attack cell in order to prepare for expanding the tool and upgrading the capabilities in such a way that it would work at a greater pace in several centers at the same time, including building competence and regulating the division of responsibilities.
On October 7, the IOS Division was mobilized and prepared for a wide escalation. The regular assault cell absorbed the reserve soldiers and alertness was raised to the highest level. The message from the commander of the Central Command, Major General Fox and the commander of the division at the time, Brigadier General Blot, was: "We are going to root treatment in the refugee camps."
During the war and on the basis of brigade combat teams led by the Kafir brigade and regional brigades in combination with the Dovdvan, Yams and MGB units, the IOS Division carried out more than 200 operations in the refugee camps with an emphasis on Samaria and following Jaber in Jericho. More More than 3,000 wanted persons were arrested, of which 1,500 were Hamas operatives of all ranks, more than 500 weapons were located and confiscated, 350 terrorists were killed, about 150 terrorists in the refugee camps, and more than double the number of wounded. IDF data shows that the assault cell of the Iyo Division "S carried out 40 attacks, killed 70 terrorists and wounded more than 70.
Terrorist attack in the Nur al-Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm/IDF spokesman
Gaza and Yosh - not the same story
"The process includes great challenges all the time. The enemy learns us quickly and tries to make it difficult," said Lavala!
The special operations officer in the division, Major H. "Shelters in the alleys by burning tires to hide in smoke what is happening in the field, military positions at the entrance to roads and large loads.
Our goal is clear: for the superiority of the IDF to be expressed at every point and to preserve the freedom of action at every point in the IDF.
The assault cell needs to remove a threat when there are fighters in danger."
Major H. also said: "Some of the squads were eliminated even before they set out to carry out the operation. As someone who has walked these alleys, including in recent times, I can testify that this is a very complex task. The street is a meter wide and very Challenging for an attack. In most cases, we ask our forces to go back so that we can carry out an attack safely. Every attack requires thinking about the angle, the weapons and at the right moment after a clear crime, and all this in a densely populated area."
The peak in the operation of the assault cell, according to Major H., was in one of the operations in the Jenin refugee camp, in which about a thousand fighters participated, so they had to make complex decisions in order to attack terrorists from the air. "There is a fighter in every square meter. You need to know where everyone is and then carry out an attack. It's not like in Gaza where a car drives on a 3-kilometer axis and you have time to attack it," he says. "Sometimes it's a squad that shoots from a house at the troops and disappears in seconds.
You must keep her incriminated if you kill him.
The connection between what you see with the eye and what you hear in connection and where you see the position of the forces on the screen is critical to the mission.
Put all this together in a very short time, incriminate the goal and succeed in bringing it to fruition.
It's the most satisfying."
IOSH Special Operations Officer, Major H. (from left) with the Division Commander, Lt. Col. Y./IDF Spokesman
Major in response S., a veteran tank operator who operated in all sectors during the war, arrived on October 7 at the squadron.
"I was already there at noon and I was supposed to organize a shelter for my wife and child. It was clear to me from the beginning that this was a very big event," he recalled.
"I started with defense missions in the settlements of the Western Negev and then operations in the Gaza Strip with the forces. It was only in the fourth week of the war that I arrived at IOSH for an operation to escort forces and remove a threat.
The work with us is varied: you get into the operating trailer and operate as a TMC in Gaza, get out of the trailer, go eat and drink, and return to activity in Lebanon or IOSH and the policy is different.
The outline is different and the characteristics are different."
In the first activity in the IOSH, there was a moment for the Major in response S. when he looked at his teammates in the operation trailer as if he could not believe the level of violence and terror that was used against the forces in the field. "This is a war zone.
We are used to accompanying arrests.
In the worst case, stones are thrown at the troops or a burning tin is thrown at the jeeps, but it is not like that.
In the fourth week of the war, they threw short-range charges, operated charges, fired short-range shots openly.
I have never seen such an exposed and touching activity.
This is not Gaza, not Lebanon - this is Yosh."
That's why I think that the role becomes much more significant.
He recalled one of the events in the refugee camp in Jenin.
"The forces began to move in and the movement of terrorists was detected 200 meters away from the forces. Suddenly you see explosions on the ground as a result of throwing rope charges on the force. From that moment it is clear to everyone in the cell that the force is under threat. At this moment we look at each other and say that something else is needed here. This There is no war territory, there is no evacuation of the population, international law must be complied with and the price of the mistake is very high."
The operator of the helicopter, Major S./IDF spokesman
Despite the great achievements of the IOS division and the assault cell, the special operations officer, Major H., insisted on talking about the moments of difficulty, apart from the difficult decisions.
In one of them, in the Jenin refugee camp, an MGB fighter, Sergeant Shay Garmai, was killed.
A powerful explosive device was fired at the armored jeep in which she was traveling.
Three other fighters were moderately to seriously injured.
"We go from zero to a hundred. By definition, we have power in a crisis. Everyone, without exception, is under pressure. You must be cold, sharp, and do everything to rescue quickly. Thanks to very hard work throughout the last year, a common language, we operated under short periods of time. Bring A helicopter to rescue the wounded under fire is a complex event.
Then begins our mission to secure the forces out.
No one moves from their chair until the last of the soldiers comes out.
The result is difficult, but we did our best," he recalls, and that was not the end of the story. "During the exit, we recognize a squad that throws charges at the force.
We attack it from the air and eliminate seven terrorists in a complicated event.
There is always room to improve and move forward.
The end goal?
To expand the freedom of action because we understand that the refugee camps are the center of evil, when we stop this thing we will be able to have a broad impact.
The operational process is not to take your foot off the gas."
H. explained that the spirit and the backing come as he sees it from the Chief of Staff and below to push for more operations against the nests of terror in IOSH. "We produce operations almost every day.
It is a difficult process because you have to invent yourself with a new technique, be creative, and create a sense of synonymy for the enemy.
Let him not know where we will come to him: from the air or the ground, at night or during the day.
What happened at Jenin Hospital is another example.
Sometimes it will be a troubled unit, sometimes a big operation and sometimes a small one and sometimes a thousand soldiers.
We proved that in one whistle, this tool is available 24/7.
From investigations in the field and the Shin Bet, we know that the terrorists are afraid. They run from house to house from alley to alley. In the past they used to walk around with vests freely, today, they have no balls. They knock over a bundle and run away. They know that if they stay another half a minute in the building they will be hit by a missile."
The late Shai Garmai, a female MGB soldier/spokesperson for the Israel Police
Lieutenant P., the intelligence officer of the attack cell who is responsible for building the intelligence picture throughout each operation before the cell commander, the brigadier general and the division commander, said: "We are getting the enemy used to the fact that there is a strong army here that is always present in the field.
The policy is to be as strong as possible against terrorism.
This is an evolving martial theory.
Our goal is first of all to protect the forces operating in the field.
The enemy is gone in one second.
You see it in one alley and then move to the next.
We need to get the information before trying to attack the force.
It's a feeling of satisfaction every time."
The commander of the assault cell, Col. B. M., says that after more than four months of fighting, he and the other members of the assault cell in the reserves understand the size of the hour and will continue as long as they are asked, when in the background they have the support of their spouses despite the difficulty.
"We will do whatever it takes to meet the required achievement. We are ready for any task that will be assigned to us. We started the war as a cell in the Gaza Strip and when they decided on operations, we moved to IOSH.
This is a completely different story and despite the difficulty and challenge, we brought important results for the security of the country.
We are doubly careful because of the outline, because of the proximity of our forces to the terrorists and because of the density and proximity to civilians.
Zero mistakes.
Every attack gets the most attention.
The sharpness of the cell led, together with the intelligence and the air force, to defeating a squad of four terrorists in one case and seriously wounding another, and in another case we took advantage of an opportunity and killed five terrorists who in retrospect turned out to be the five senior commanders in the Nur al-Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm.
We also participated in the operation of a fighter jet and I don't want to elaborate on that."
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