[Jpost] The IDF's special joint operations unit within the air force has carried out over 10,000 airstrikes throughout the IDF's counter-invasion of Gaza.This unit is unique because it is trained from the start to work in direct cooperation with ground forces as they proceed forward.
A NEW LEVEL OF COORDINATION
Although the IDF has tried to make this kind of joint operating activity between air and land forces standard practice in the current war, for most of military history in which air forces existed, there was nowhere near this level of coordination.
In addition, the amount to which air forces of democracies could support ground forces advancing in real-time in dense urban settings was minimal both because of the concern of hitting "enemy" civilians and the concern of accidentally hitting friendly forces, given the blunt power of munitions dropped by aircraft. The IDF special joint operations unit within the Air Force has flipped all of these problems using a mix of unique training with ground forces long before the war, along with using advanced precision munitions.
These new trends have allowed the special unit - which at first was mostly made of helicopters, but over time has added drones and even some other kinds of aircraft - to strike within 150 meters of advancing IDF forces, most often without hitting civilians or IDF forces.
A senior IDF official told three specific stories where the elite unit saved IDF forces who would have taken larger or larger losses without its intervention.
In one case, battalion 551 was pinned down by Hamas's anti-tank missiles and sniper units while operating in Beit Hanoun of northern Gaza.Regardless of their efforts, the IDF infantry could not even get near the Hamas positions without being gunned down.
A short time after being warned, the IDF special unit struck from the air and removed the Hamas threat.
TRAINED TO REMOVE THE THREAT
In another instance, Unit 401 was being ambushed in Jabaliya, another northern Gaza neighborhood by a complex trap of anti-tank missiles and other Hamas forces.
Further, in this case, the IDF already had wounded soldiers and it was unclear whether there would even be a safe way to evacuate them.
In one hour, the Joint Special Forces Air Force unit attacked Hamas several times, ended the ambush, and succeeded in spiriting off the wounded IDF soldiers.
In yet another incident, IDF Golani forces were being ambushed and having trouble extracting themselves.
Once again, the special unit carried out several attacks against Hamas within a very short time, helping the Golani forces deal with the situation.
Questioned if these tactics could work in southern Gaza, where there are even more Palestinian civilians than before, and the urban setting may be even more dense, a senior IDF official said that the same tactics used in northern Gaza should work in southern Gaza.
He said that years of training and drilling together had made his special unit ready for the diverse challenges currently being presented.
IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi said that a large component of IDF victory in Gaza would be the strong joint work of the different arms of the Israeli military.
IDF says over 800 tunnel shafts uncovered in Gaza since start of ground offensive
[IsraelTimes] The Israel Defense Forces says troops have discovered more than 800 tunnel shafts in the Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with an iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about
oppressionand
disproportionate response...
Strip since the beginning of the ground offensive which began in late October.
It says that around 500 of them have already been destroyed, either by setting off large amounts of explosives inside, or by sealing them.
According to the IDF, many of the tunnels connect between Hamas
...the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,..."strategic assets."
The IDF says it has also destroyed hundreds of kilometers’ worth of tunnels, in addition to the shafts.
"The shafts were located in civilian areas, and many of them were located near or inside educational institutions, kindergartens, mosques, and playgrounds," the IDF says.
In some of the tunnels, IDF troops found Hamas weaponry.
"These findings are further proof of the cynical use that the Hamas terror organization makes of the civilian population as a human shield, and as a cover for its terror activity," the IDF adds.
IDF releases new footage of airstrikes and ground operations in the Gaza Strip. It says that overnight, the Air Force hit tunnels, command centers, weapons depots and other sites. Troops of the 7th Armored Brigade directed a drone strike on Hamas operatives. The Navy also shelled… pic.twitter.com/hQZI2eIVga
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) December 3, 2023
More from the Times of Israel here.