The Israel Defense Forces have called up five reservist brigades, totaling some 18,5000 troops, to swell the ranks of those who will fight in Operation Gideon’s Chariots, Israel’s expanded military offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
Three brigades have already been called up, and two more were added this weekend, including infantry and armored brigades.
“The operation is intended to defeat Hamas and bring about the release of all the hostages. We will act with great force to destroy all of Hamas’s military and governmental capabilities,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said last Wednesday during a visit with soldiers of the IDF’s 162nd “Steel Formation” Armored Division.
“From the moment the maneuver begins, we will act with great force and will not stop until all objectives are achieved,” Katz emphasized.
In addition to the fresh troops, the IDF’s Paratroopers Brigade has been withdrawn from Syria and the Golan Heights, and is preparing to join the offensive, although soldiers of the 210th division are continuing their deployment in the area, where they are tasked with protecting Syria’s Druze population.
The IDF’s Nahal Brigade, which has been operating for the past three months in Judea and Samaria, is likewise being re-deployed to join the new offensive.
During their counterterrorism activities in the region, the soldiers captured more than 100 wanted individuals, conducted extensive searches in the area during which they located and confiscated dozens of weapons, and eliminated several terrorists who posed a threat to IDF troops and to Israeli civilians.
The Golani Brigade, meanwhile, has been operating in southern Gaza, where the troops have neutralized terror threats in more than a thousand buildings, dozens of tunnel shafts and as many terrorists, in Rafah and the Morag Corridor alone. On Friday, the forces truck a booby-trapped compound in which there were several terrorists who posted a threat.
“We remember why we’re here — to bring the hostages home and defeat Hamas, until victory,” IDF Col. A, commanding officer of the Golani Brigade said in remarks this weekend.
“There’s no other place and no other forces I’d rather fight alongside — the spirit and the people, the strength and determination — that’s the Golani Brigade combat team.”
Troops of the 36th division — which includes the Golani Brigade — are continuing their operations in Gaza while preparing to expand the offensive to additional locations.
