The debate in the IDF about integrating women into combat units continues at full force, along with a similar one on social media. Some think that women shouldn't be in the army at all, others believe that they should serve on the home front, while others think that women's combat service should be restricted to less dangerous zones. And some believe that all roles in the IDF should be open to women, who should be assigned based on their abilities, not their gender.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

But there is one group that isn't getting upset over the discourse – the women serving in combat units, who are the ones establishing facts on the ground day after day. Or as Sgt. Ofir Weingold, a technician in the 53^rd Armored Battalion who just finished a long deployment on the Gaza border – where she was serving during Operation Guardian of the Walls in May – puts it, "Going into battle? There's no way I'm staying behind. It won't happen."

Every day, female soldiers – some in combat roles, some in combat support roles – work side by side with the men. Sometimes, they are the only women in their respective companies, and they prove that opposition to their doing these jobs is rooted in nothing more than stereotypes.

"My name's Ofir. I'm 20, from Barkan. When I was drafted, I joined the Technology and Maintenance Corps, and after basic training and the tank course I was assigned to the 53^rd Battalion," she says. Weingold serves in a unit that fixes the tanks' sophisticated technology, and in times of war, these soldiers can be called into enemy territory to make repairs, even under fire.

"I was the first girl who joined a company of male combat soldiers, and there's no doubt they were a little in shock at first, but slowly we started to realize the advantages – like order and organization, and a different viewpoint," Weingold says.

Lately, the 53^rd Battalion has been training intensively on the Golan Heights after seven months on the Gaza border.

"We worked hard there, under fire, day and night. It was a challenge, no doubt," Weingold says. "Our work is definitely hard, but we aren't afraid of hard work. A little rain, a little mud, but it's all OK."

During Operation Guardian of the Walls, the IDF began preparations for a possible ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, which did not happen. However, much to Weingold's dismay, even if the IDF had gone into Gaza, she would not have been part of the operation, as the military's directive for the integration of women in combat currently does not allow lone female soldiers from her unit to enter enemy territory in an APC.

"I'm classed as a level 3 rifleman, a combat soldier, and I can cross the border, and if there was an incursion and there was another female soldier or officer, I could go in. I'd want to, definitely. When I was in the middle of all the craziness I said that if there was a ground incursion I'd 100% be part of it, there was no way I'd stay behind – it wouldn't happen. At a certain stage I was given leave during the operation and I turned it down. I said there was no way the soldiers would go through it without me. I stayed with them," she says.

Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!

Staff Sgt. Daniel Hatan, 19, a company medic at the 9^th Armored Battalion's training base, isn't afraid of the idea of going into battle, either. She is even happy to have been moved up from her initial job in combat intelligence.

"At the start of my combat service I went through border infantry training, but then I realized that I was less suited to what went on there and asked for another job. They offered me a chance to join a new pilot that would put female medics into armored combat units. They even told me it would be easy because I was already considered a combat soldier and if things got real, I would be sent across the border," Hatan says.

"I think there are women who are really cut out to be in combat and can do everything, which is great. But I don't think it needs to come at the expense of professionalism – you need to look closely and make sure that every female combat soldier has the right character, because it's still a battalion full of guys. I believe that there are women who can do the job just as well, or even better," she says.

"I've had to carry a few tank soldiers on stretchers, and it wasn't easy, but the exhausting part of the job is the routine medical care. I don't regret the path I've chosen. I've experienced things I never would have anywhere else, and I recommend that girls that fit the job do what I did."

Cpl. Hadar Simchon, 19, serves on a rocket launcher in the 334^th Artillery Battalion, and doesn't regret having chosen the role for a moment.

"At first, I wanted to join the special forces and I hadn't heard of the rockets, but when I found out about it, I got excited," she says.

Simchon and her comrades operated an MLRS rocket launches that can cover areas as big as a soccer field and help batter the enemy. "It's an insane tool with enormous power," she says.

Her artillery battalion is now in the midst of training on the Golan Heights. "We practice using the equipment … drill everything that could happen in war."

According to Simchon, the men and women in the battalion do exactly the same jobs. "The advantage of the MLRS is that you don't need to lift the shells, so the equality is notable – everyone does exactly the same thing," she says.

The post 'Do you think we won't go into battle?' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Since Trump pulled US troops out of the way following a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the incursion has opened a major new front in the eight-year Syrian war and drawn fierce criticism internationally.

Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter

"We have one of three choices: Send in thousands of troops and win Militarily, hit Turkey very hard Financially and with Sanctions, or mediate a deal between Turkey and the Kurds!" Trump said in a Twitter post on Thursday.

"I hope we can mediate," Trump said when asked about the options by reporters at the White House.

Without elaborating, Trump said the United States was "going to possibly do something very, very tough with respect to sanctions and other financial things" against Turkey.

On Friday morning, Turkish jets and artillery struck around Syria's Ras al-Ain, one of two border towns that have been the focus of the offensive. Gunfire could also be heard inside the town, said a Reuters journalist in Ceylanpinar, on the Turkish side of the border.

He said a convoy of 20 armored vehicles carrying Syrian rebels entered Syria from Ceylanpinar on Friday. Some of them made victory signs, shouted "Allahu akbar" and waved Syrian rebel flags as they advanced towards Ras al-Ain.

Some 120 km (75 miles) west, Turkish howitzers resumed shelling near the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, a witness said.

Turkey's Defense Ministry said that in overnight operations the Turkish military and its Syrian rebel allies killed 49 Kurdish fighters. It says it has killed 277 fighters in total.

The ministry said one Turkish soldier was killed in a clash on Thursday during the offensive, which is targeting the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led by the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia.

Kurds said they were resisting the assault. At least 23 fighters with the SDF and six fighters with a Turkish-backed Syrian rebel group had been killed, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war.

NATO member Turkey says the operation is necessary for border security against the YPG militia, which it designates a terrorist group because of ties to militants who have waged a decades-old insurgency in southeast Turkey in which more than 40,000 people have been killed.

Ankara has also said it intends to create a "safe zone" for the return of millions of refugees to Syria.

The SDF have been the main allies of US forces on the ground in the battle against Islamic State since 2014. They have been holding thousands of captured IS fighters in prisons and tens of thousands of their relatives in detention.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian called for an emergency meeting of the coalition of more than 30 countries created to fight Islamic State.

SDF forces were still in control of all prisons with Islamic State captives, a senior US State Department official said in a briefing with reporters on Thursday.

The United States has received a high-level commitment from Turkey on taking responsibility for Islamic State captives but had not yet had detailed discussions, the official said.

US lawmakers have said Trump gave Erdoğan the green light to go into Syria but the official disputed that. "We gave them a very clear red light, I've been involved in those red lights and I know the president did that on Sunday," the official said.

The SDF said Turkish airstrikes and shelling had killed nine civilians. In apparent retaliation by Kurdish-led forces, six people including a 9-month-old baby were killed by mortar fire into Turkish towns, Turkish officials said.

The International Rescue Committee aid group said 64,000 people in Syria have fled since the campaign began. The towns of Ras al-Ain and Al-Darbasiyah, some 60 km (40 miles) to the east, were largely deserted.

The post Thousands fleeing as Turkey bombards Syrian Kurdish militia appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.