The IDF's reserve observation units, operating under regular IDF brigades during the war in Gaza, have bolstered cooperation between the Air Force, Military Intelligence Directorate and infantry forces, leading the advantage against Hamas.
More stories:
In one instance, the Paratrooper Brigade's observers unit successfully directed dozens of precise strikes against enemy targets that resulted in the elimination of terrorists in Gaza City and Khan Younis. Today, the unit's soldiers are on leave, but are ready to return and regroup with forces still fighting in the Strip.
In one of the unit's successful operations, soldiers located an anti-tank missile quad inside a residential building, and its soldiers directed a drone to eliminate the threat in direct communication with the Israeli Air Force. Footage from the attack shows an IDF missile hitting the building, after which a tank rolls to the area and fires toward the terrorist cell to ensure that the target has been eliminated.
In numerous other instances, the troops used various detection methods, including advanced drones for vertical identification, to detect and eliminate terrorists hiding in residential homes before they could carry out attacks against IDF forces.
"Since the start of the war in Gaza, the unit has been divided into forces operating outside the Strip and identified the enemy with the help of observation balloons, and later to forces moving to operate inside the Strip," said Maj. (res.) Or Chen.
"These soldiers are experienced, some of them are over 40, bringing in a lot of their maturity and experience to the field and integrating successfully with conscripts. The platoon completed successful combat operations in Hamas outposts in neighborhoods including al-Rimal, Zeitoun and Shijaiyah while backing combat engineering operations and providing cover for advancing forces."
According to Maj. Chen, the platoon also excelled in dynamic profiling of target banks, moving against emerging targets rather than only against predetermined objectives.
"Our forces opened fire from sea, at ranges exceeding five kilometers, and while communicating with Navy forces on ships," Maj. Chen said. "In other incidents, we conducted pursuits of terrorists who opened fire at our forces and tried to flee, until we eliminated them."
The unit's role, if remobilized, will be especially relevant during any cease-fires that could take place in the war. During the previous pause in November, the unit used the ten-day hiatus to gather intelligence on new targets, including locating Hamas positions that were rebuilt, enabling their immediate destruction after the war resumed following the hostage release deal collapsed.
The unit also excelled in identifying booby-trapped buildings before forces entered them, based on knowledge of the terrain and early analysis of terror targets, in order to secure soldiers on the front lines while utilizing advanced and long-range observation equipment deployed by the IDF in the area for the first time.