On 7 October 2023, seven female Israeli tank crew members from the Caracal battalion fought against Gazans who they alleged were Hamas[1] continuously for 17 hours. According to the IDF, the young women were the first ever female tank crews in the West to engage in active combat.[1] According to Israel, they killed 50 militants.[1]
The incident was cited by The New York Times as an important milestone in the integration of women in the army, symbolizing a significant shift after a prolonged struggle for acceptance.[2]
Israel has promoted its female tank crews as part of its public relations war within the conflict.[3]
Background
The recruitment of women into combat positions in the Israel Defense Forces was rather slow.[4] The process accelerated after 1995, when a young soldier, Alice Miller, asked the Supreme Court of Israel to allow her to enroll in pilot training.[4] As a result of the landmark decision, although Miller personally did not make it into the 3% of those who qualified, more combat positions in the army became available to female soldiers.[4] Five years later, in 2000, the first defense Caracal Battalion was created.[4]
On 27 October 2022, the Israel Defense Forces announced that they had formed all-female tank crews, who had successfully completed two years of testing.[5] The company is armed with Merkava IV tanks and is defending the Egyptian border.[5] Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi noted: “I believe that women tank crews will carry out the border protection mission professionally and with great success and will form a significant part of the IDF's operational efforts.”[5]
Course of events
On 7 October 2023, on the holiday of Simchat Torah, militants presumed to be from the militant group Hamas attacked Kibbutz Holit near the southern Gaza Strip in a surprise attack on Israel and killed at least 13 people.[6]
The tank crew of the Caracal battalion, under the command of Captain Carney, was on the border with Egypt at the Nitsana base on the morning of October 7, approximately 40 km south of the Gaza Strip.[4] Having received the order[from whom?], the battalion, comprising two Merkava IV tanks and a Namer armored personnel carrier, drove along Highway 232 north near the border with the Gaza Strip.[citation needed]
According to the recollections of Senior Sergeant Tal-Sara, after arriving at Kibbutz Sufa and seeing a damaged IDF armored personnel carrier with wounded soldiers around it, her tank came under heavy fire from three directions, and she began to realize that they were under attack.[4] She and the other 20-year-old female soldiers had not received training in firing the 50-caliber Katlanit remote weapons and had to improvise.[4] They gave battle to dozens of Hamas members, who were armed with AK-47s and RPGs.[4][7]
They were joined by two more Merkava tanks.[4] One was left near the gap in the border fence to block the movement of Hamas.[8][4] The second tank and armored vehicle were among dozens of Hamas members with RPGs[7] and other weapons. At the height of the battle, Carney called a third tank from the Nitzana base under the command of Sergeant Ophir, which arrived two hours later. Some Hamas members were killed and remaining members retreated back behind the border fence.[8]
One of the Merkava tanks, under the command of Lieutenant Michal, began to help liberate Kibbutz Sufa from hundreds of Hamas members, and as a result, her team, after more than 6 hours of battle, killed dozens of Hamas members.[4]
At the same time, the company commander, Captain Karni, moved from an armored personnel carrier to a tank and fought with the team in and around Kibbutz Holit, eliminating dozens of Hamas members.[4] Then a tank under the command of Karmi drove through the closed main gate of the kibbutz and, seeing two members of Hamas in ambush on the side of the road, simply drove over them.[4][1] They were able to repel the attack on the kibbutz and prevent the continuation of the Hamas attack on the south of the country. In total, the battle with the participation of Carney's company lasted about 17 hours.[4][1] Seven 20-year-old Israeli tank crews took part in the battle: Hagar, Hila, Tal-Sara, Michal, Karni, Ophir and Tamar, who allegedly killed 50 members of Hamas.[4][1] Their last names have not been disclosed for privacy-related security reasons.[4]
Reaction
According to the IDF, the young women were the first ever female tank crews in the West to engage in active combat, which lasted 17 hours.[1] As noted by the director of the Australian Defense Association, Neil James, this was most likely the first time in history that a female armored unit participated in a war.[3]
Israel has made use of its female soldiers, including Israeli female tank crews, as a public relations tool in the Israel–Hamas war. Their involvement in combat is used as part of a campaign to garner support for Israel by presenting a progressive image, in contrast to the conservative climate in Gaza.[3]
