On video: a police officer neutralizes the terrorist in the attack on road 122.02.24/police spokesmen
"Get up Moran. Get up. There's a war. Jump everyone," screamed from the field the platoon commander of the Erez Battalion on his cell phone on the morning of October 7 when he woke up the commander of the corresponding platoon Lieutenant Moran Buchnik (20).
The alarms at the Anatot base in IOS did not reveal the historical figure, which was the extent of rockets fired at Greater Israel since the establishment of the state, while thousands of terrorists infiltrated Israel from Gaza within a few hours. Lieutenant Buchnik jumped all the soldiers of Company B in the Erez Crossing Battalion of the Military Police and left for the day The first war of "Iron Swords". The fear of attacks on the crossings was palpable, the effort to set the area on fire rose in the intelligence, and accordingly alertness and vigilance was raised at the crossings: Hizma, A-Zaim and Zeitim around Jerusalem. The literal gates to the Israeli capital.
Lieutenant Moran Buchnik and Sergeant Adeline Diamante at the A-Zaim checkpoint/IDF spokesperson
The platoon commander and other female fighters quickly equipped themselves with personal protection, went out with drawn weapons into the area and went on a higher than usual alert at the Hizma checkpoint between the Palestinian village and the Pisgat Ze'ev neighborhood in Jerusalem.
The media and social networks began to publish reports from the field about gunfights in Sderot and Ofakim, intrusions on the Gaza border and massacres in the settlements of the Western Negev.
In those minutes, Israeli babies and Holocaust survivors were transported at gunpoint to the Gaza Strip and residents' homes were set on fire.
"From the very beginning it was clear that this was a war," Lieutenant Buchnik told Walla!
"The extent of the alarms in the area, in the atmosphere, poison in the eyes of the men and women fighters. On the other hand, the fear of those who pass through the crossing, reservists who quickly pass through the crossing because they were jumped. It is both Shabbat and a holiday. So fewer Jews pass. Some of the minorities sympathized with us and our pain. See it in their eyes. They didn't have to speak, but some of them bumped into us abnormally and some said: 'I will do what I want, who are you anyway?' There are enough tools to deal with it. If necessary, we would also put obstacles in the way of further treatment. Our goal is to prevent those who do not have a proper permit from passing through."
The minutes passed like an eternity and the reports piled up from the south.
"One of the fighters was crying because her boyfriend is in the Gaza Division and she doesn't know what's going on with him. Another fighter's boyfriend didn't answer and we hear about a friend who was killed and friends who were injured," Lieutenant Buchnik continued to say while at the checkpoint.
"Despite the pressure and tension, they all know when they step on the path (in the passage - AB) no matter what happened at home or on Shabbat there is a task and they do it the best they can.
They surpassed themselves and carried out the task.
They inspect a vehicle with strictness and high vigilance.
They treat the fighters with composure and are making progress."
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Demonstrations on the Temple Mount (archive)/Reuters, Amar Awad
The military activity at the Hizma, A-Zaim and Zeit crossings is perceived in the Israeli narrative as a routine security operation at the edge, but in practice this actually constitutes the last security belt in the defense of the city of Jerusalem and the Israeli home.
Almost every week there are attempts to penetrate the crossings to enter Jerusalem to smuggle illegal residents, smuggle equipment and in extreme cases carry out terrorist attacks.
"The Israeli public that passes through the crossing knows that our mission is important. We are flattered, but it must be said: that day the trust between the citizens and the army was broken. There was a crisis in the country," said Lieutenant Buchnik as in the background the noise of vehicles and trucks being stopped for inspection at the A-Zaim crossing can be heard.
"The citizens felt that they were betrayed. I told my fighters that we are proving that we are here to protect and act properly. Some citizens said thank you that day."
Although that Shabbat was not as difficult and complex as in the Gaza Envelope, the men and women of the crossing felt the grief.
"Shabbat came out and Jews began to cross, some of them on their way to funerals. People sat in cars and cried. We saw wounded people crossing and I saw a soldier who returned from the base to attend the funeral of his father who was murdered in the south," Lt. Buchnik repeated.
"I learned from that day that my soldiers have a mission. In the end, we protect the country no matter what happens."
Lieutenant Moran Buchnik/IDF spokesman
The economic crisis and Sinwar's desires
Now the fighters of the transition face a new-old challenge.
The month of Ramadan will be celebrated this year at a very high boiling point not only from the Israeli point of view but also from the Palestinian Authority's point of view.
For more than 150 days no Palestinian workers have entered Israel and in accordance with the economic hardship, a transitional government was announced in the Palestinian Authority and according to IDF estimates, in view of the meeting of the Palestinian factions in Russia, senior Hamas officials will not rush to enter it but will influence from the outside - which will increase suspicion and tension regardless of the war If a hostage deal comes to fruition, it will embarrass and even weaken the Palestinian Authority because Hamas will score points on the Palestinian street if serious prisoners are released from Israeli prisons. If there is no deal, there is a high chance of escalation throughout Iosh and around Jerusalem.
In the meantime, there is an assessment that security coordination with the Palestinian Authority will be reduced due to the fear that the security mechanisms will be perceived as collaborating with the IDF during a war and at a time when Hamas is portrayed as trying to release terrorists from Israeli prison. The strong card that Yahya Sinwar tries to hold from the depths of the tunnels in the south of the Gaza Strip is the convergence of the arenas. An effort and a chance to connect the Gaza Strip, the Arabs of Israel, East Jerusalem, Lebanon and with an emphasis on terrorists who will come from Jordan to lead to a series of attacks and violent disturbances that will throw Israel out of security balance and the deterioration of internal security.
Wants to drag the Arabs of Israel and Yosh. Yahya Sinwar/Reuters
Already at the beginning of the war, Sinwar tried to simulate a war with Israel with a religious war situation and therefore gave it the name "Tofan (Flood) Al Aqsa" and failed.
Already on the networks, Hamas activists are trying to claim the concept of "Tofan Ramadan" in order to once again introduce the religious dimension to the war, which may sweep the Arab-Muslim world.
In preparation for Ramadan, the IDF will raise the level of alertness not only at the crossings but also in the depths of Palestinian territory to prevent buses and other vehicles from advancing towards Jerusalem without permission and inciting provocations that could lead to incitement and escalation on social media
. of Palestinians who will try to reach the Temple Mount without permission and there will be a great load at the crossings.
with violent friction.
Disorders and more than that," explained a senior security official. "We will need a lot of composure.
The IDF's challenge will be to prevent cutting a fence. Therefore, the seam line will be strengthened. Even 30 Palestinians cutting a fence and penetrating can give a feeling and atmosphere of the Gaza refugees crossing into the Gaza village. These will be bad images that can lead to inflamation."
It was also decided to reinforce points of friction in the heart of Judea and Samaria, along the seam and even on the Jordanian border.
The financial situation of the Palestinian Authority only contributes to the boiling pot that has been bubbling for a long time and does not help calm the streets.
"This is the worst economic situation in Israel in the past decade," said the security source. "There is no employment, no workers in Israel, a significant decrease in the export of products from Israel to Israel, a decrease in the consumption of construction products from Israel because there is a slowdown in the pace of construction in Israel.
A thing is related to a thing.
The Norwegian settlement money outline for the PA is stuck. They are taking loans upon loans to pay salaries and there is no hope. The situation in the Palestinian refugee camps has heated up because of the UNRA situation and the donations.
Therefore, it is estimated that Palestinians will do everything during Ramadan to infiltrate Israel to work and Hamas will try to take advantage of this to send in terrorists.
3-4 Palestinians who are killed on the fence can set the area on fire."
Since the beginning of the year, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed by IDF fire in Yosh. This is a high figure compared to the same period last year and despite the high friction resulting from the IDF's extensive activity in the refugee camps, he claims A senior security official, because the majority of the Palestinian public is dismayed and very afraid for its future against the backdrop of the fighting from the Gaza Strip.
Since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip, 12 security prisoners have died in Israeli prisons and there have been no riots in the prisons or throughout Yosh, whereas in the past, every death of a prisoner would have led to disturbances and protests.
The scene of the attack on Route 1 last month/Roni Knafo
In the background of the war, the increasing threats of terrorism in the area and the increasing tasks of the Erez Battalion, it was decided to appoint operations officers in each company.
After ten months in which Lieutenant Buchnik's department recorded successes in "quality captures" in transit, illegal residents, infiltrators, and weapons, it was decided to promote her about two months ago to the position of operations officer in order to upgrade and speed up the company's preparations, among other things, for Ramadan.
"We are around the crossings 24/7 and are required to be operationally alert. The motivation is high and in the end we have two tasks: to maintain a normal fabric of life and to thwart entry and to prevent criminal and illegal activities.
If we see a threat - we will remove it," Buchnik pledged.
The company's deputy commander, Lt. Tair Sheri (22), who will take command of the company next week, says that the sector's history proves that the Ramadan period is explosive and very busy at the crossings and the Palestinian population that comes from the Jewish settlement to the crossing on the way to prayers on the Temple Mount behaves differently.
"They come fasting, hungry and more eager," she explained.
"You have to take that into account. We need to be more attentive in Ramadan, more sensitive, so that there is no warming between the fighters and a minority son. There is also no intention to make him enter Jerusalem already warm because of what happened to him in transit. The Ramadan period is very busy."
Sergeant of the department Adeline Diamante (20), who stands in the background of A-Zeim crossing where on average between 10,000-7,000 people pass a day because of the congestion in the crossings, the wear and tear and the challenge of the fighters between the 8-hour shifts.
"Every terrorist attack against Israel has an impact because we are the first line of entry into Jerusalem. There are imitation attacks and an attack can come as a surprise," she explained.
Sergeant Adeline Diamante at the A-Zaim checkpoint/IDF spokesman
"Did we prevent an attack? We contributed ours"
Lieutenant Moran Buchnik insists that this is a point in time with a high potential for escalation.
"As soon as we have a Ramadan period with war in Gaza, army and religion - it's going to be tense. You see it reflected on social media. It's not like the previous Ramadan nor the one before it. There has never been a Ramadan with war."
The Erez Battalion has been going through new training in the last few months ahead of Ramadan, which includes LOT and situation shooting training and surprise special units. "All fighters have between 10 and 30 seconds to operate their weapons and react to an incident in transit.
This is a complex period, so they are given tools," said Deputy Buchnik. "We are already evaluating what will happen in the crossings.
There will be congestion, there will be attempts to warm up, a lot of illegal activities in the area. Palestinians have been under siege for five months. They have no work and no money. They will try to infiltrate."
Regarding the citizens' claims that the traffic jams at the crossings put them at risk and expose them to attacks, Lieutenant Tair Shari said: "We are constantly busy combining a normal life fabric with security. We need to check the vehicles. Even when we are told there is a traffic jam, we understand but exercise discretion."
It is impossible to ignore the fact that the level of motivation of the youth to reach the combat positions in the Erez Crossing Battalion is not one of the highest in the IDF. Lieutenant Buchnik has a firm answer. "Perhaps no one wants to go to the crossings, but those who arrive never want to leave," she states. The Erez Battalion is a family, we maintain familiality and internal unit pride.
Here I prevented an attack, here I caught snipers, here I thwarted infiltrators, the operational output here is daily. I see it with my own eyes. What gives me great satisfaction and pride? When the news channels are turned on and there is no report of an attack? I know we contributed our part."
More on the same topic:
Ramadan
Gaza war
War of Iron Swords
The Temple Mount
Yahya Sinwar
Palestinians
the Palestinian Authority