{"id":223796,"date":"2025-01-25T10:40:08","date_gmt":"2025-01-25T10:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/25\/israel-welcomes-the-return-of-the-women-who-warned-of-a-raid-from-gaza\/"},"modified":"2025-01-25T10:40:08","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T10:40:08","slug":"israel-welcomes-the-return-of-the-women-who-warned-of-a-raid-from-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/25\/israel-welcomes-the-return-of-the-women-who-warned-of-a-raid-from-gaza\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel Welcomes the Return of the Women Who Warned of a Raid From Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/01\/25\/multimedia\/25israel-lookout-01-vpjb\/25israel-lookout-01-vpjb-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Israel Welcomes the Return of the Women Who Warned of a Raid From Gaza\" title=\"Israel Welcomes the Return of the Women Who Warned of a Raid From Gaza\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli Army lookouts were monitoring Hamas in Gaza across a security fence from a base in southern Israel. As it turned out, Hamas was also watching them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The four women released by Hamas on Saturday after more than 15 months in captivity in Gaza are \u201cspotters\u201d for the army who were stationed in a small military base about a half-mile from the border.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the first minutes of the Hamas-led dawn assault on Oct. 7, 2023, gunmen burst through the fence and overran the base, Nahal Oz. Dozens of soldiers were killed, including 15 spotters. The gunmen also dragged seven lookouts \u2014 unarmed female conscripts in their late teens \u2014 onto trucks and drove them into Gaza. Some were still in their pajamas, some bloodied from wounds.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">One of them, Pvt. Ori Megidish, 19, was <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/10\/30\/world\/middleeast\/israel-rescue-soldier-abducted-hamas.html?searchResultPosition=1\" title=\"\">rescued<\/a> three weeks later by Israeli forces. Another, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/cpl-noa-marciano-19-soldier-known-for-dimples-and-smiles\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Cpl. Noa Marciano<\/a>, 19, was injured in an Israeli airstrike and then killed by militants inside Gaza\u2019s Shifa hospital, according to the military. Hamas said she died in the bombing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Four of the remaining five, Naama Levy, Karina Ariev and Daniella Gilboa, who are now all 20, and Liri Albag, 19, were released on Saturday as part of a cease-fire deal providing for the release of scores of Palestinian prisoners, many of them convicted of killing Israelis. A fifth spotter, Agam Berger, is slated to be released in the coming days or weeks under that deal, which came into effect on Jan. 19.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Levy, Ms. Berger and Ms. Albag were recent recruits who had arrived at the base less than two days before the attack. The Israeli military has not disclosed the rank of the captured soldiers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The capture of the lookouts underscored what many Israelis view as the <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/10\/10\/world\/middleeast\/israel-gaza-security-failure.html\" title=\"\">worst military, intelligence and governmental debacle<\/a> in their country\u2019s history. Their families are still waiting for a formal investigation into the fall of Nahal Oz.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Relatives and former lookouts said the women were on constant alert for the possibility of a cross-border raid, though they did not envisage anything on the scale of the one that happened.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cAll the time, they told us there\u2019d be a raid,\u201d said Amit Yerushalmi, 22, a former lookout who served at the Nahal Oz base from December 2021 until about a week before the assault. But she said they had expected a localized event along the fence, like an attempt to abduct a couple of soldiers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWe would joke about whose shift the raid would fall on,\u201d Ms. Yerushalmi said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the months leading up to the assault, Ms. Yerushalmi said, there were growing signs of something afoot. She said the spotters saw convoys of 20 to 30 white pickup trucks filled with Hamas fighters driving along the border with increasing frequency, stopping occasionally and peering into Israel through binoculars. They would also put up drones a few times a day, Ms. Yerushalmi said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The spotters reported the activity, she and several relatives of the other lookouts said, but were told by their superiors that their job was to be the eyes, not the brains, of the Israeli military. Their reports, they said, appeared to have been dismissed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The Israeli military declined to comment on the specific claims, but said in a statement that it was \u201creviewing the events of October 7 and what preceded them\u201d with the goal of deriving lessons for the continuation of the army\u2019s operations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">When the attack came, thousands of Hamas-led gunmen and marauders burst through the fence and overran military bases, border villages and towns, as well as a music festival. About 1,200 people were killed in Israel that day, and another 250 were taken as hostages into Gaza, according to the Israeli authorities. The assault set off a 15-month war that has killed more than 46,000 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities say, and has left much of the coastal enclave in ruins.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">It took hours for any backup forces to arrive at Nahal Oz. The lookouts\u2019 commanders were at a different base, farther from the border.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI still don\u2019t know what really happened there,\u201d said Eyal Eshel, the father of Sgt. Roni Eshel, one of the 15 lookout soldiers killed at Nahal Oz. Mr. Eshel conducted his own research into the events and is pressing for a formal inquiry into the failures on that day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI understood one thing,\u201d Mr. Eshel said of the research he had done on the fate of the spotters. \u201cTheir abandonment and the disdain for them was so great.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The evening before the raid, the lookouts were in a festive mood, sharing a sabbath meal together, singing and saying goodbye to a team member, Staff Sgt. Shahaf Nissani, 20, who was completing her mandatory service. Her mother had delivered food to the base.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-6\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The lookouts worked four-hour shifts, with eight hours\u2019 rest in between. They were trained to never take their eyes off the screens in the operations room.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Karina Ariev\u2019s family was not overly worried when she was assigned to Nahal Oz, said her cousin Anna Astmaker. \u201cThis was within the borders of the country,\u201d she said. But Ms. Ariev told them she did not feel safe there, her cousin said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Ariev, the daughter of immigrants from Ukraine, was on duty from midnight until 4 a.m. early on Oct. 7. Sergeant Eshel was part of another group that took over at 4 a.m.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">At 6:29 a.m., militants fired a barrage of rockets out of Gaza, providing a smoke screen as exploding drones knocked out key communications and surveillance towers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">As sirens warned of incoming rocket fire, the off-duty lookouts ran from their sleeping quarters to an aboveground shelter.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-7\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Within minutes, waves of Hamas commandos had <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/10\/13\/world\/middleeast\/hamas-israel-attack-gaza.html?searchResultPosition=2\" title=\"\">burst through Israel\u2019s vaunted defenses<\/a>, some in white pickup trucks, and the base was quickly overrun.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In the operations room, Sergeant Eshel was <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.timesofisrael.com\/oct-7-radio-transmission-by-slain-surveillance-soldier-roni-eshel-aired-for-first-time\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">using codewords to report the raid<\/a> as it unfolded in a voice rising with urgency, according to an <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/share\/v\/15bxM599SK\/?mibextid=hLiTNg\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">audio recording<\/a> released by the military. Then the cameras were destroyed, and the monitoring screens went blank.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Dozens of armed soldiers who were stationed at the base on a rotation fought to their last bullets. The assailants shot and threw grenades into the shelter where the lookouts were hiding, killing and injuring many of them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Ariev called her parents from the shelter to say goodbye, according to Ms. Astmaker. She told them to continue to live if she did not survive, and continued texting with them until 7:20 a.m., when all contact was lost.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-8\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Footage soon emerged on social media of Ms. Ariev and other lookouts being taken to Gaza.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">There has been scant information about them since. Ms. Ariev appeared in a hostage video a year ago with Ms. Gilboa and Doron Steinbrecher, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/19\/world\/middleeast\/hostages-emily-tamari-doron-steinbrecher-romi-gonen.html?searchResultPosition=1\" title=\"\">one of three women released<\/a> on Jan. 19.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Ms. Albag appeared this month in <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/04\/world\/middleeast\/hamas-israel-gaza-hostage.html?searchResultPosition=1\" title=\"\">the most recent hostage video<\/a> released by Hamas, which analysts said was probably intended to put pressure on Israel for a cease-fire deal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The surveillance soldiers who were in the operations room at the time of the assault were alive for nearly six hours until midday, waiting to be rescued, according to information gathered by Mr. Eshel and testimony given last year to an <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/11\/26\/world\/middleeast\/israel-oct-7-inquiry.html?searchResultPosition=1\" title=\"\">informal inquiry<\/a> that he initiated with other bereaved families and survivors of the assault.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In a battle around the operations room, four combat soldiers fought to their deaths, the inquiry found. The assailants then set the operations room ablaze. Seven more combat soldiers and only one of the lookouts managed to find their way through the thick smoke and escape through a small bathroom window. Sergeant Eshel and the others on duty died in the inferno.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Only one other lookout escaped alive from the shelter. In all, more than 50 soldiers were killed in the Nahal Oz base, 15 of them lookouts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-9\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Sergeant Eshel was classified as missing for 34 days until the military confirmed her death, based on DNA. But, Mr. Eshel said, \u201cThere are a lot of open questions.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-10\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Israel\u2019s military chief, Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/21\/world\/middleeast\/israel-military-chief-resignation.html?searchResultPosition=1\" title=\"\">announced his resignation<\/a> this past week and said that before he departs, in March, the military would finalize the series of long-awaited internal inquiries into its failure on Oct. 7. The results of the internal inquiries will be made available to the public, the military says. <\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Mr. Eshel believes his daughter knew she would not make it out alive. The oldest of three siblings, she always signed off her messages with five red heart emojis, one for each member of the family, he said. In her last message to her mother from the operations room, at 9:27 a.m., she said not to worry and signed off with only four hearts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/25\/world\/middleeast\/israel-spotters-hostages.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Israeli Army lookouts were monitoring Hamas in Gaza across a security fence from a base in southern Israel. As it turned out, Hamas was also watching them. The four women released by Hamas on Saturday after more than 15 months in captivity in Gaza are \u201cspotters\u201d for the army who were stationed in a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/01\/25\/multimedia\/25israel-lookout-01-vpjb\/25israel-lookout-01-vpjb-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[137233,43,32652,5552,38,5861,3950,5492,20466,3653],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223796"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223796"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":223798,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223796\/revisions\/223798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}