162nd Division (Israel)

Last updated
162nd Ha-Plada Division
Logo-ugda-162.png
162nd Division insignia
Active1971–present
Country Israel
Allegiance Israel Defense Forces
Branch Armored Corps
Type Armor
Size Division
Part of Southern Command
Engagements

The 162nd Division "Ha-Plada", also known as the Steel Formation (Hebrew : עֻצְבַּת הַפְּלָדָה, Utzbat HaPlada), is a division in the Israel Defense Forces. It is subordinate to Southern Command.

Contents

The 162nd division has been involved in the Yom Kippur War, the two Lebanon wars, and the Gaza war. During the lattermost war, it was determined to have killed Hind Rajab, a 5-year old Palestinian girl. [1]

History

The division played a critical role in the 1973 Yom Kippur War in the Sinai, under Avraham "Bren" Adan.

Although attached to the Central Command at the time, the 162nd Division participated in battles against Hezbollah, from July to August 2006, in the western sector of southern Lebanon and north of Bint Jbeil. The division reached the strategic Litani River, that separates Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon from central Lebanon. The division participated in skirmishes with Hezbollah as late as September 27. [2]

Gaza war

On February 17, 2025, the Israel Defense Forces announced that the 162nd Division had officially concluded its nearly 15-month-long operations in the Gaza Strip. [3] Responsibility for the military's buffer zone in the northern part of the Strip was handed over to the 252nd Division. [3] According to the IDF, the 162nd Division suffered the loss of 265 soldiers during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. [3] The southern portion of the buffer zone, as well as the Philadelphi Corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border, remains under the responsibility of the Gaza Division. [3]

A UN commission concluded that the 162nd division deliberately targeted and killed medical workers during the Gaza war. [4] UN experts "determined on reasonable grounds" that it was the 162nd division that killed Hind Rajab, a 5-year old Palestinian girl. [1]

Division organization 2025

162nd Division "HaPlada" organization as of October 2025 Israel 162nd Armored Division - Organization October 2025.png
162nd Division "HaPlada" organization as of October 2025

References

  1. 1 2 Darwish, Niamh Kennedy, Muhammad (2024-10-11). "UN inquiry accuses Israel of 'crime of extermination' through deliberate destruction of Gaza's health care system". CNN. Retrieved 2025-11-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. Greenberg, Hanan (June 30, 2006). "Lebanon: 2 soldiers moderately injured in exchanges of fire". Ynet . Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Fabian, Emanuel. "IDF's 162nd Division hands responsibility for Gaza buffer zone to 252nd Division". The Times of Israel . Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  4. "Legal analysis of the conduct of Israel in Gaza pursuant to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide" (PDF).

Commons-logo.svg Media related to 162nd Division (IDF) at Wikimedia Commons