For the first time since the war began on October 7, fighters from the Shachar Battalion in the Rescue and Training Brigade of the Home Front Command joined the ground forces' operations in the Gaza Strip.
Video: Mixed-gender Shachar Battalion joins fighting / Credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit
Under the command of the battalion's commander, Lt. Col. Yarden, the battalion's fighters, both men and women, joined the combat teams of the 162nd Division for various missions according to their specialties, including clearing buildings and searching for arms.
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Unlike Operation Cast Lead and Operation Protective Edge in 2009 and 2014 respectively, where the Search and Rescue Brigade operated relatively limitedly and in small units, in this war, the Home Front Command has been tasked with entering the arena extensively, deploying dozens of fighters within the Gaza Strip.
Video: Weapons found at Shifa Hospital / X@idf
The fighters joined the combat teams and operated together in the area of the Shati refugee camp – one of Hamas' central strongholds in the Gaza Strip.
During the operations of the commando forces in a hotel in Gaza, they stormed the building. After the rescue forces' work, another underground floor was discovered, where Hamas' military arms and intelligence were collected.
Col. Elad Edri, the commander of the Rescue and Training Brigade, noted that the Home Front Command personnel repelled the attack on Israeli towns on October 7, "in a battle that ended with 9 wounded and 7 killed and in another battle in Kibbutz Urim, where 7 of our soldiers fell, and several others were injured."
He added, "The brigade assisted in evacuating the communities in the south and north, and provided assistance to the ground forces' maneuver in the ground strip. The main unique skills are rescue and assistance if a structure collapses on our forces. Our rescue tools serve the forces maneuvering, certainly in built-up and dense areas."
Two-thirds of the personnel in the Home Front Command's Rescue and Training Division are women. "Currently within the strip, on behalf of the Home Front Command, 40% are women, sharing the mission responsibilities with the men beside them," explained the commander of the brigade.
Video: IDF and ISA forces revealed a significant 55-meter-long terrorist tunnel / Credit: X/@idf
The division includes a female battalion commander and female company commanders. It has been using dogs from the IDF special canine unit, whose specialty is detecting bodies under rubble. In addition, the Home Front Command also has rescue engineers – people who, in their regular service, were fighters and became engineers in their civilian lives.
"In the fighting in Shati," Colonel Adiri says, "we had a team that fought on the front line with the 50th Battalion, in storming and breaking walls, using a similar method to advance in the heart of Nablus. In another case, our team had to break into an underground parking garage, where significant combat arms were found."
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