Footage of Air Force strikes in Gaza
(IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The IDF published data on the activities of the Israeli Air Force throughout the war with Hamas in Gaza, stating that its aircrafts attacked more than 31,000 targets in all the arenas - with about 29,000 in the Gaza Strip. About 1,100 of the targets attacked were in Lebanon in the north. In total, the IAF flew over 186,000 flight hours.
Read more:
Approximately 26,000 attacks were carried out using fighter jets, another 3,800 using helicopter gunships and some 3,800 attacks were carried out with UAVs. Approximately 7,000 were "flash" attacks – immediate attacks at the request of the ground forces.
In Gaza, the closest strike to IDF forces was carried out at a distance of only 80 meters from the soldiers. This attack was carried out on November 18, in an encounter between the 401st Brigade and terrorists who fired an anti-tank missile at the troops. The Air Force also carried out a number of airstrikes in the West Bank during the war numbering more than 30, according to the new data.
The air defense system carried out thousands of interceptions throughout the war, most of them by the Iron Dome missile defense system. Dozens of interceptions were carried out with the help of the David's Sling system, most in the first day of the war. There were also about 15 interceptions with surface-to-air missiles and six interceptions using the Arrow system. The Arrow 3 system made the first operational interception during the war.
In light of operational efficiency processes in the Air Force, it shut down the Patriot system batteries and converted them to operate the Iron Dome system. In addition, the Patriot personnel have been switched to operating the Iron Dome weapon system, with the goal of providing additional Iron Dome batteries. The men and women are going to undergo an operational conversion course of several weeks and within a few weeks the first additional Iron Dome battery will be operational.
In addition, the Air Force revealed new documentation from the rescue operation in Rafah. The video shows footage from the Black Hawk helicopter cameras that rescued the two hostages Louis Har and Fernando Marman from the 98th Division airstrip in Khan Younis, 20 minutes after they were rescued by the Counter Terrorism Unit about a week ago.
Footage from the rescue operation in Rafah
(Video: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
The Air Force attacked about 50 targets near the scene of the operation to assist the forces and isolate the area. Some of the UAV strikes fell tens of meters from the soldiers to help them escape safely. One of the missile attacks even hit the roof of a house adjacent to where the captives were kept.