This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia.(December 2023) |
2023 Israeli female tank crew fight | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Battle of Sufa, the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, and 2023 Israel–Hamas war | |||||
Merkava Mk 4 Barak | |||||
| |||||
Belligerents | |||||
[ citation needed ] |
On 7 October 2023, seven female Israeli tank crew members from the Caracal battalion fought against Gazans who they alleged were Hamas [1] continuously for 17 hours. According to the IDF, the young women were the first ever female tank crews in the West to engage in active combat. [1] According to Israel, they killed 50 militants. [1]
The incident was cited by The New York Times as an important milestone in the integration of women in the army, symbolizing a significant shift after a prolonged struggle for acceptance. [2]
Israel has promoted its female tank crews as part of its public relations war within the conflict. [3]
The recruitment of women into combat positions in the Israel Defense Forces was rather slow. [4] The process accelerated after 1995, when a young soldier, Alice Miller, asked the Supreme Court of Israel to allow her to enroll in pilot training. [4] As a result of the landmark decision, although Miller personally did not make it into the 3% of those who qualified, more combat positions in the army became available to female soldiers. [4] Five years later, in 2000, the first defense Caracal battalion was created. [4]
On 27 October 2022, the Israel Defense Forces announced that it had created all-female tank crews, and they had successfully completed two years of testing. [5] The company is armed with Merkava IV tanks and is defending the Egyptian border. [5] Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi noted: “I believe that women tank crews will carry out the border protection mission professionally and with great success and will form a significant part of the IDF’s operational efforts.” [5]
On 7 October 2023, on the holiday of Simchat Torah, militants presumed to be from the militant group Hamas attacked Kibbutz Holit near the southern Gaza Strip in a surprise attack on Israel and killed at least 13 people.[ citation needed ]
The tank crew of the Caracal battalion, under the command of Captain Carney, was in the morning of October 7 on the border with Egypt at the Nitsana base, approximately 40 km south of the Gaza Strip. [4] Having received the order, the military, in two Merkava IV tanks and a Namer armored personnel carrier, drove along Highway 232 north near the border with the Gaza Strip.
According to the recollections of Senior Sergeant Tal-Sara, after seeing Kibbutz Sufa blown up and broken IDF armored personnel carrier and the wounded soldiers around it, and then after heavy fire from three directions, she began to realize that they were in a state of war. [4] She and the other 20-year-old female soldiers had not received a special course in firing the 50-caliber Katlanit remote weapons and had to improvise and learn on the ground. [4] They gave battle to dozens of Hamas members who had AK-47s and RPGs. [4] [6]
Subsequently, they were joined by two more Merkava tanks. [4] One tank was left near the gap in the border fence to block the movement of Hamas. [7] [4] The second tank and armored vehicle were among dozens of members of Hamas with RPGs [6] and other weapons. At the height of the battle, Carney called a third tank from the Nitzana base under the command of Sergeant Ophir, this tank arrived two hours later. Some Hamas members were killed and remaining Hamas members retreated back behind the border fence. [7]
One of the Merkava tanks under the command of Lieutenant Michal began to help liberate Kibbutz Sufa from hundreds of Hamas members, and as a result, her team, after more than 6 hours of battle, destroyed dozens of Hamas members. [4]
At the same time, the company commander, Captain Karni, moved from an armored personnel carrier to a tank and fought with the team in and around Kibbutz Holit, eliminating dozens of Hamas members. [4] Then a tank under the command of Karmi drove through the closed main gate of the kibbutz and, seeing two members of Hamas in ambush on the side of the road, simply drove over them. [4] [1] They were able to repel the attack on the kibbutz and prevent the continuation of the Hamas attack on the south of the country. In total, the battle with the participation of Carney's company lasted about 17 hours. [4] [1] Seven 20-year-old Israeli tank crews took part in the battle: Hagar, Hila, Tal-Sara, Michal, Karni, Ophir and Tamar, who allegedly killed 50 members of Hamas. [4] [1] Their last names have not been disclosed for privacy related security reasons. [4]
According to the IDF, the young women were the first ever female tank crews in the West to engage in active combat, which lasted 17 hours. [1] As noted by the director of the Australian Defense Association, Neil James, this was most likely the first time in history that a female armored unit participated in a war. [3]
Israel has made used of its female soldiers, including its Israeli female tank crews, as a propaganda tool in the 2023 Israel–Gaza war, with their involvement in combat being used as part of a public-relations campaign to garner support for Israel and undermine left-wing backing for the Palestinian cause. This strategy aims to present a progressive image of Israel, in contrast to the conservative climate in Gaza. [3]
The Merkava is a series of main battle tanks used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the backbone of the IDF's Armored Corps. Current iterations of this tank are considered broadly equivalent to the capabilities of the M1 Abrams, Leopard 2 and the Challenger 2. The current iteration of this vehicle also shares the same MTU EuroPowerPack powerplant as a number of other MBT platforms.
The 188th "Barak" (Lightning) Armored Brigade is an Israeli armoured brigade, subordinate to Israel's Northern Regional Command. The emblem of the Barak Armored Brigade is a red-bordered rhombus bearing a sword against a blue and white background depicting the Haifa coastline. The brigade has a long history beginning before the foundation of the State of Israel.
This page is a partial listing of incidents of violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 2004.
The IDF Caterpillar D9 — nicknamed Doobi — is a Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer used by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The Israeli armored CAT D9 was heavily modified by the Israel Defense Forces, Israeli Military Industries and Israel Aerospace Industries to increase the survivability of the bulldozer in hostile environments and enable it to withstand heavy attacks, thus making it suitable for military combat engineering use. The IDF Caterpillar D9 is operated by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Combat Engineering Corps for combat engineering and counter-terrorism operations.
The Israeli Combat Engineering Corps is the combat engineering forces of the Israel Defense Forces.
Holit is a kibbutz in the Hevel Shalom region of south-west Israel. Located near Nir Yitzhak, the kibbutz is under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In 2022, it had a population of 210.
Nirim is a kibbutz in the northwestern Negev in Israel. Located near the border with the Gaza Strip, about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) east of Khan Yunis, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 416.
The 401st "Iron Tracks" Brigade is an Armored Brigade in the 162nd Division of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).
Trophy is a military armored vehicle active protection system (APS) designed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.
The 33rd "Caracal" Battalion is an infantry combat battalion of the Israel Defense Forces, one of the three fully combat units in the Israeli military's Paran Brigade that are composed of both male and female soldiers. It is named after the caracal, a small cat whose sexes appear the same. As of 2009, approximately 70% of the battalion was female.
Nahal Oz is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the northwestern part of the Negev desert close to the border with the Gaza Strip and near the development towns of Sderot and Netivot, it is under the jurisdiction of Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In 2022, it had a population of 479. A nearby IDF military base is known by the same name.
Sufa is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the Hevel Shalom area of the north-western Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In 2022 it had a population of 233.
Namer, means "leopard" and also a syllabic abbreviation of "Nagmash" (APC) and "Merkava", is an Israeli armoured personnel carrier based on a Merkava Mark IV tank chassis. Namer was developed by and is being assembled by the Israeli Ordnance Corps. It has entered service in limited numbers with the Israel Defense Forces since the end of 2008. Due to budgetary constraints, the introduction of the Namer into the IDF has been slow, leaving the ground forces dependent on the M113 until 2027.
Israel is one of only a few countries where military service is compulsory for all able-bodied female citizens. Under Israeli conscription laws, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) may draft recruits from three communities: the Jews, the Druze, and the Circassians. As the latter two communities are less populous, their women are not required to serve. Women from the Jewish majority are not exempted from the conscription laws, but serve for slightly shorter terms than male conscripts. All women who are exempted from the conscription laws may still enlist voluntarily. Jewish women who are called up for military service may apply for an exemption on humanitarian, religious, or certain legal grounds. Those who claim such an exemption will typically be redirected to Sherut Leumi, the alternative means of national service.
The 2006 Gaza cross-border raid was an armed incursion carried out by seven or eight Gazan Palestinian militants on 25 June 2006 who attacked Israel Defense Forces (IDF) positions near the Kerem Shalom Crossing through an attack tunnel. In the attack, two IDF soldiers and two Palestinian militants were killed, four IDF soldiers were wounded, one of whom was Gilad Shalit, who was captured and taken to the Gaza Strip.
The Hannibal Directive is the name of a controversial procedure that was used by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) until 2016 to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers by enemy forces. According to one version, it says that "the kidnapping must be stopped by all means, even at the price of striking and harming our own forces." It was introduced in 1986, after a number of abductions of IDF soldiers in Lebanon and subsequent controversial prisoner exchanges. The full text of the directive was never published, and until 2003, Israeli military censorship forbade any discussion of the subject in the press. The directive has been changed several times, until it was officially revoked in 2016 by IDF chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot. The Directive's replacement has not been published.
The Israeli Ground Forces are the ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). The commander is the General Officer Commanding with the rank of Major General, the Mazi, subordinate to the Chief of General Staff.
On 7 October 2023, in the opening attacks of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Hamas militants carried out a massacre at Be'eri, an Israeli kibbutz near the Gaza Strip.
On October 7, 2023, as part of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, a series of coordinated armed incursions into the Gaza envelope, around 30 Hamas militants attacked Kibbutz Sufa and then overran a nearby military outpost.
The Nahal Oz attack was an assault on the kibbutz of Nahal Oz and the adjacent military base near the northern Gaza Strip on the morning of 7 October 2023 as part of a 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. In the attack, more than 60 Israeli soldiers and more than a dozen kibbutz residents were killed. Some soldiers and residents were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip.