Looking Hamas in the Eye
The warfighters of the IDF Nesher Battalion occupy one of the hottest border sectors in Israel – the Gaza Strip. Collecting intelligence on riots and disturbances at the border fence, terror kites, and offensive underground tunnels, the Battalion's warfighters spare no effort to provide accurate and professional intelligence. Special visit to the volatile sector
Ami Rojkes Dombe
| 09/08/2018
A warfighter of the IDF Nesher Battalion (Photo: Meir Azulay)
The border with the Gaza Strip is regarded as one of the most intensively active border sectors the IDF is dealing with, and even more so in the last few months. Violent demonstrations near the border fence, sniper fire, explosive charges thrown over the border fence, arson and explosive balloons and kites, drones and tunnels. All of these are items in a long list of threats the IDF troopers face at this border sector. One of the ways to cope with such an extensive range of threats is to collect accurate, long-range, reliable real-time intelligence. The Nesher Combat Collection Battalion, which operates out of its command center at the Urim base, is responsible for this task.
Like other combat collection battalions of the IDF, the Nesher Battalion also consists of static elements (surveillance operators using stationary surveillance resources installed near the border) and mobile elements (mobile companies operating specialized surveillance resources). The Battalion operates under the Border Defense Layout and constitutes the element in charge of force build-up and training, with the regional brigades serving as the operating element. Within this organizational structure, the Battalion provides surveillance services to the southern and northern IDF brigades deployed along the Gaza Strip border and charged with the routine security operations from the Egyptian-Israeli border all the way to the city of Ashqelon. Notably, the Nesher Combat Collection Battalion is not responsible for collection between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, in the sector known as 'Philadelphi Route,' which the disengagement plan assigned to the Egyptians' responsibility.
"A major share of our activity relies on technologies. However, for now, there is no substitute for feet on the ground. There are niches along the Gaza border that only the collection (surveillance) operators can cover effectively," explains Maj. Ofir Avraham, commander of one of the Battalion's mobile companies. "The warfighters attain Rifleman-5 qualification. A major percentage of our activity consists of surveillance ambush operations according to the requirements of the brigades and the situation on the ground. Our ambush details sometimes remain deployed for hours, sometimes days, fully camouflaged. In the summer it is not a trivial task."
In a sector where the enemy is deployed "right on the border," within a distance of dozens of meters and often less than that, one of the Battalion's missions is to close the loop in immediate threat situations. For this purpose, the Battalion cooperates with the operators of the IAF Zik (Elbit Systems Hermes-450) UAVs, which can track targets within minutes. "In some cases, the loop-closing cycle is not immediate. In these situations, the brigade will acquire the target from us and track it according to the changing operational needs," they explain at the Battalion.
The full article will be published in the upcoming issue of Israel Defense Magazine
The warfighters of the IDF Nesher Battalion occupy one of the hottest border sectors in Israel – the Gaza Strip. Collecting intelligence on riots and disturbances at the border fence, terror kites, and offensive underground tunnels, the Battalion's warfighters spare no effort to provide accurate and professional intelligence. Special visit to the volatile sector
A warfighter of the IDF Nesher Battalion (Photo: Meir Azulay)
The border with the Gaza Strip is regarded as one of the most intensively active border sectors the IDF is dealing with, and even more so in the last few months. Violent demonstrations near the border fence, sniper fire, explosive charges thrown over the border fence, arson and explosive balloons and kites, drones and tunnels. All of these are items in a long list of threats the IDF troopers face at this border sector. One of the ways to cope with such an extensive range of threats is to collect accurate, long-range, reliable real-time intelligence. The Nesher Combat Collection Battalion, which operates out of its command center at the Urim base, is responsible for this task.
Like other combat collection battalions of the IDF, the Nesher Battalion also consists of static elements (surveillance operators using stationary surveillance resources installed near the border) and mobile elements (mobile companies operating specialized surveillance resources). The Battalion operates under the Border Defense Layout and constitutes the element in charge of force build-up and training, with the regional brigades serving as the operating element. Within this organizational structure, the Battalion provides surveillance services to the southern and northern IDF brigades deployed along the Gaza Strip border and charged with the routine security operations from the Egyptian-Israeli border all the way to the city of Ashqelon. Notably, the Nesher Combat Collection Battalion is not responsible for collection between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, in the sector known as 'Philadelphi Route,' which the disengagement plan assigned to the Egyptians' responsibility.
"A major share of our activity relies on technologies. However, for now, there is no substitute for feet on the ground. There are niches along the Gaza border that only the collection (surveillance) operators can cover effectively," explains Maj. Ofir Avraham, commander of one of the Battalion's mobile companies. "The warfighters attain Rifleman-5 qualification. A major percentage of our activity consists of surveillance ambush operations according to the requirements of the brigades and the situation on the ground. Our ambush details sometimes remain deployed for hours, sometimes days, fully camouflaged. In the summer it is not a trivial task."
In a sector where the enemy is deployed "right on the border," within a distance of dozens of meters and often less than that, one of the Battalion's missions is to close the loop in immediate threat situations. For this purpose, the Battalion cooperates with the operators of the IAF Zik (Elbit Systems Hermes-450) UAVs, which can track targets within minutes. "In some cases, the loop-closing cycle is not immediate. In these situations, the brigade will acquire the target from us and track it according to the changing operational needs," they explain at the Battalion.
The full article will be published in the upcoming issue of Israel Defense Magazine
