The IDF updated this morning (Thursday) that the soldier who was seriously wounded yesterday in a battle in southern Lebanon is in the IDF Spokesperson's Operational Documentation Platoon.
She was struck by an explosive drone in southern Lebanon and was evacuated by military helicopter directly to the hospital alongside a combat officer who was moderately wounded and two other soldiers who were also moderately wounded.
After her serious injury, and as a special tribute to her work, the IDF published the operational recordings that she managed to film and document from within the battlefields of Lebanon. She is seen skillfully using both her rifle and her professional video camera.
Following her injury, the IDF is seeking to shed light on the activities of the IDF Spokesperson's Operational Documentation Platoon, a unique combat unit with exceptional characteristics.
The unit was established as a direct operational lesson after the fall of the IDF spokesperson's photographer, Staff Sergeant Lior Ziv, who was killed during a complex operational activity in Rafah in 2003, and in light of the growing operational need for reliable and high-quality documentation directly from the battlefields for the purposes of public relations, information, and the battle for perception.
The platoon was deployed in its current format for the first time during Operation Protective Edge (2014), and since then its soldiers have operated continuously across all of Israel's combat sectors - in the Gaza Strip, in Lebanon, in Judea and Samaria, and in Syria, closely accompanying infantry forces and special units.
Combat documentation soldiers operate as an embedded force, directly linked to the assaulting forces on the ground. They do not observe from the side, but fight shoulder to shoulder with the soldiers they join, take a fully active role in combat and assist them in neutralizing threats.
The training is entirely combat-focused and includes extended infantry basic training, a counterterrorism combat course at the School for Display and Combat, along with spokesperson-related professional courses in documentation and advanced tactical photography. The platoon currently numbers dozens of soldiers in active duty and reserves.
