Soldiers from the Caracal mixed-gender light infantry battalion (Screenshot: Channel 12, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law).
A female IDF combat soldier inside a tank (screenshot: Channel 12, used in accordance with Clause 27a of the Copyright Law).
Channel 12 interviews soldiers from all-woman company within mixed-gender battalion who say there was no time for fear or hesitation, battled terrorists for 17 hours.
When a group of young Israeli women were woken up at 6:30 a.m. on October 7, they had no idea they would be making history as the first female armored crews in Israel, and perhaps the world, to participate in active battle.
In an interview with Channel 12 this week, the combat soldiers spoke of thundering along main roads to get to some of the 20 southern Israeli communities that came under massive assault that morning, running down terrorists, and securing breaches on the border with the Gaza Strip.
One of the officers in the unit, identified as Hagar, told Channel 12: “[My commander] comes into our room at 6:30 a.m., wakes me up and tells us that there’s a terrorist infiltration. We didn’t really understand the enormity of the event.”
The soldiers are part of a company of all-women tank operators, which was made permanent in the Israel Defense Forces in 2022 after a two-year pilot program. The company, in the Caracal mixed-gender light infantry battalion, usually operates along the Egyptian border — not in wars or in fighting behind enemy lines.
On the morning of October 7, they left their base at Nitzana, on the Egyptian border, and drove north as fast as they could, in tanks and an armored Humvee. In one of a number of highly irregular decisions IDF commanders were forced to make that day, the tanks were given the okay to drive on civilian roads — at speeds far higher than recommended.
At first, they discovered breaches along the border with Gaza, along with dozens of terrorists. Leaving a tank there to protect the border and prevent more Gazans from flooding into Israel, they headed to Kibbutz Holit, while also sending a tank to battle Hamas terrorists at Kibbutz Sufa.
Another of the armored crew commanders, Karni, spoke of the devastation they witnessed on the approach to Kibbutz Holit: “We realized we’re at war.”
“They told me there were terrorists in all the trees around me, so we just started firing. We started firing bunker busters at the terrorists that were up close, and then mortar shells at those further away,” Michal, another officer in the unit, said in the Channel 12 report.
“I could see the hits, I saw [the terrorists] fall down,” she added.
When a group of young Israeli women were woken up at 6:30 a.m. on October 7, they had no idea they would be making history as the first female armored crews in Israel, and perhaps the world, to participate in active battle.
In an interview with Channel 12 this week, the combat soldiers spoke of thundering along main roads to get to some of the 20 southern Israeli communities that came under massive assault that morning, running down terrorists, and securing breaches on the border with the Gaza Strip.
One of the officers in the unit, identified as Hagar, told Channel 12: “[My commander] comes into our room at 6:30 a.m., wakes me up and tells us that there’s a terrorist infiltration. We didn’t really understand the enormity of the event.”
The soldiers are part of a company of all-women tank operators, which was made permanent in the Israel Defense Forces in 2022 after a two-year pilot program. The company, in the Caracal mixed-gender light infantry battalion, usually operates along the Egyptian border — not in wars or in fighting behind enemy lines.
On the morning of October 7, they left their base at Nitzana, on the Egyptian border, and drove north as fast as they could, in tanks and an armored Humvee. In one of a number of highly irregular decisions IDF commanders were forced to make that day, the tanks were given the okay to drive on civilian roads — at speeds far higher than recommended.
At first, they discovered breaches along the border with Gaza, along with dozens of terrorists. Leaving a tank there to protect the border and prevent more Gazans from flooding into Israel, they headed to Kibbutz Holit, while also sending a tank to battle Hamas terrorists at Kibbutz Sufa.
Another of the armored crew commanders, Karni, spoke of the devastation they witnessed on the approach to Kibbutz Holit: “We realized we’re at war.”
“They told me there were terrorists in all the trees around me, so we just started firing. We started firing bunker busters at the terrorists that were up close, and then mortar shells at those further away,” Michal, another officer in the unit, said in the Channel 12 report.
“I could see the hits, I saw [the terrorists] fall down,” she added.
