The Commander of the Southern Command, MG Yaniv Asor, conducted a field tour yesterday at the location where IDF troops from the Kfir Brigade clashed with terrorists a day earlier in Khan Yunis. He was accompanied by the Commander of the 36th Division, BG Moran Omer, the Commander of the Kfir Brigade, COL A., and other commanders.
As part of the tour, the Commander of the Southern Command conducted an initial debrief and commended the determination and decisive action demonstrated by the commanders and troops. He also highlighted operational gaps identified during the debrief, which required drawing lessons and implementing them quickly, in light of Hamas’ attempts to harm our troops.
According to the investigation's findings, at around 9:00 a.m., three terror squads exited the tunnel shaft. One squad spread out as a holding force on a mound of dirt to fire at IDF support forces that would arrive at the scene; the second squad ran to a building where soldiers were sleeping on the first floor after a nighttime operation; and the third squad charged toward an adjacent building.
The terrorists ran 40 meters from the tunnel opening to their planned point of engagement, without being noticed, and managed to fire at the IDF surveillance camera on one of the buildings and disable it.
The IDF force that initiated the operation was led by a commander from the Haruv Reconnaissance Unit, who was part of the same ambush watching from a distance: the young officer and his fighters heard noise from the second floor, where the ambush was set, looked down, and saw a first suspicious figure, immediately opening fire, which triggered the unfolding incident. At the same time, the platoon commander from the Nachshon Battalion, whose approximately 15 fighters were sleeping on the first floor, woke them up while six terrorists were already on that floor. At that point, close-quarters combat ensued inside the building, during which at least three of the terrorists were eliminated.
The armored platoon commander from the Maglan Unit, from Brigade 188, who decided to stay inside the tank with his fighters, charged toward the terrorist squad moving toward the building, fired three shells at the structure, and evaded an RPG shot fired by the terrorists’ tracking squad deployed on the earthen embankment.
Most of the combat at the three locations took between five and ten minutes, at the end of which, the terrorists chose to flee, and three soldiers were wounded, one severely.
The terrorists retreated, and while pursuing them, troops eliminated ten additional terrorists, including ones who fired mortars as cover fire for the leading squads. Most of the terrorists who attempted to flee were eliminated by the Air Force using drones that were directed by the three battalion and company commanders who managed the fighting on the ground.
The incident ended after three hours when the last terrorist was spotted attempting to return to the tunnel and was eliminated from the air. Upon searching the area, the troops found various weapons, including Kalashnikov rifles, grenades, combat vests, and explosive devices, which the terrorists managed to deploy in the field. "We also found a streacher that they brought with them, but we don't know if they intended on using it for an abduction or to evacuate their casualties," IDF officials stated, "We have things to learn about from this incident about operational norms, but the troops' determination and heroism led to the good result of foiling the terrorists' intentions."