Battle of Re'im | |||||||
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Part of the Israel–Hamas war | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Units involved | |||||||
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Casualties and losses | |||||||
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The battle of Re'im (Hebrew : קרב רעים, Arabic : معركة رعيم) took place on 7 October 2023, when Hamas attacked Israel, initiating the Israel–Hamas war. [4] At 10:00 am, less than five hours after Hamas attacked, fighting was reported outside of the Re'im Army Base, which is headquarters for the Gaza Division. [4] According to one report, all of the soldiers at the base were 'killed or captured'. [5] The base was reportedly the location of IDF drone and surveillance operations. Hamas reportedly posted a video of dead Israeli soldiers it had killed at the base. [6] Later in the day, Israeli Defense Forces regained control of the military base. [7] [1]
The 1st "Golani" Brigade is an Israeli military infantry brigade. It is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. It is one of the five infantry brigades of the regular Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the others being the Paratroopers Brigade, the Nahal Brigade, the Givati Brigade and the Kfir Brigade. Its symbol is a green olive tree against a yellow background, with its soldiers wearing a brown beret. It is one of the most highly decorated infantry units in the IDF. The brigade consists of five battalions, including two which it kept from its inception, one transferred from the Givati Brigade (51st).
Yamam, also known as National Counter-Terrorism Unit, is Israel's national counter-terrorism unit, one of four special units of the Israel Border Police. The Yamam is capable of both hostage-rescue operations and offensive take-over raids against terrorist targets in civilian areas. Besides military and counter-terrorism duties, it also performs tactical unit duties and undercover police work.
The 143rd "Fire Fox" Division also known as Gaza Division is a division subordinated to Israeli Southern Command. Its area of operation is the border with the Gaza Strip and surrounding area. The division's commander is Brigadier-General Avi Rosenfeld, who replaced Nimrod Aloni in August 2022.
Re'im is a secular kibbutz in southern Israel, and one of the Gaza vicinity villages. Located at the confluence of Besor Stream and Gerar Stream in the north-western Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In 2022, it had a population of 422.
The Hannibal Directive, also translated as Hannibal Procedure or Hannibal Protocol, is the name of a controversial procedure that was used by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) until 2016 to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers by enemy forces. According to one version, it says that "the kidnapping must be stopped by all means, even at the price of striking and harming our own forces." It was introduced in 1986, after a number of abductions of IDF soldiers in Lebanon and subsequent controversial prisoner exchanges. The full text of the directive was never published, and until 2003, Israeli military censorship forbade any discussion of the subject in the press. The directive has been changed several times, until it was officially revoked in 2016 by IDF chief of staff Gadi Eizenkot. The Directive's replacement has not been published.
On 7 October 2023, Hamas and several other Palestinian militant groups launched coordinated armed incursions from the Gaza Strip into the Gaza envelope of southern Israel, the first invasion of Israeli territory since the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups named the attacks Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, while in Israel they are referred to as Black Saturday or the Simchat Torah Massacre, and internationally as the 7 October attack. The attacks initiated the ongoing Israel–Hamas war.
Nimrod Aloni is a major-general in the Israeli Defence Force.
The battle of Sderot began on 7 October 2023, when Hamas launched a large-scale surprise attack on southern Israel, which was widely condemned as an act of terrorism. The Israeli town of Sderot, located close to the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, has frequently been the target of rocket attacks and incursions during the course of the Gaza–Israel conflict. Hamas militants massacred at least 50 civilians and 20 police officers.
Roi Yosef Levy was an officer in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) with the rank of colonel who served in his last position as commander of the Multidimensional Unit. He had previously served as commander of the Fire Training Center in Melah, commander of the Bar'am Brigade, commander of the Unit 621 - 'Egoz', commander of the Hadar Battalion and commander of the 1st 'Golani' Brigade. He was killed in the battle of Re'im during an encounter with Palestinian militants during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war.
On 7 October 2023, the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas initiated a surprise attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. As part of the attack, 364 civilians were killed and many more wounded by Hamas at the Supernova Sukkot Gathering, an open-air music festival during the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret near kibbutz Re'im. At least 40 hostages were also taken. This mass killing had the largest number of casualties out of a number of massacres targeting Israeli civilians in villages adjacent to the Gaza Strip, that occurred as part of the 7 October attack, alongside those at the moshavim of Netiv HaAsara, Be'eri, Kfar Aza, Nir Oz and Holit.
On 7 October 2023, in the opening attacks of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, Hamas militants carried out a massacre at Be'eri, an Israeli kibbutz near the Gaza Strip.
Nukhba, Nukhba Force or Al-Nukhba are naval commandos in a special forces unit of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
On October 7, 2023, as part of the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, a series of coordinated armed incursions into the Gaza envelope, around 30 Hamas militants attacked Kibbutz Sufa and then overran a nearby military outpost.
The Nahal Oz attack was an assault on the kibbutz of Nahal Oz and the adjacent military base near the northern Gaza Strip on the morning of 7 October 2023 as part of a 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. In the attack, more than 60 Israeli soldiers and more than a dozen kibbutz residents were killed. Some soldiers and residents were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip.
On 7 October 2023, a surprise assault was launched on Israel by Hamas militants coming from the Gaza Strip. One of their targets was Nirim, a kibbutz located in the southern part of Israel, about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the border with Gaza. At least five kibbutz civilians died, many were injured and an unknown number of civilians were kidnapped and taken hostage to Gaza.
On 7 October 2023, dozens of Hamas militants attacked Alumim, a kibbutz close to the border fence with the Gaza Strip, as part of the surprise attack on Israel. There were 41 Thai and Nepalese foreigners working at the kibbutz. The militants killed between 16 and 17 of these workers and kidnapped between five and eight of them. The kibbutz's security team were too far away and unable to save the employees. The militants did severe structural damage to the Kibbutz's dairy farming operation.
Aner Elyakim Shapira was an Israeli who was killed during the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel. During the Re'im music festival massacre, while taking cover in a shelter, Shapira threw back at Hamas militants 7 explosive grenades they had originally thrown into the shelter. Ultimately, he saved the lives of at least 7 people who survived the massacre. For his actions, he was called a "hero" by Israeli and international media.
In specific cases there were incidents of friendly fire in the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. The vast majority of casualties in the conflict were killed by the opposing side, i.e. Israelis killed by Palestinian militants and Palestinians killed by the Israeli military. According to the IDF, as of May 2024, 49 of the 278 Israeli soldiers killed during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip were killed by friendly fire and in other accidents.