All-female IDF unit helps protect Israel's border

First Sergeant "J", a member of Israel Defense Forces (IDF), joins her All-Female Intelligence Combat Unit as they conduct an aerial survey exercise in the Western Negev Desert, close to the Egyptian border. The all-female battalion is the only one of its kind in Israel, tasked with patrolling a large area of the southern border region. After returning from a routine overnight mission on October 7, "J's" unit began receiving red alerts about rockets from Gaza. "I didn't understand. I kept asking, ‘what’s happening? Why is this happening?’ Because, usually when there are rockets, there's something that happened within the Gaza Strip," "J" told Reuters. “J’s” unit was mobilized north of their base to the Gaza border area near Kibbutz Sufa where, after helping people to safety and loading the injured onto helicopters, her unit took cover under their vehicle at the entrance of the Kibbutz, engaging in a firefight with Hamas militants. "My friends were behind me. I knew I couldn't move. I had to guard the area I was guarding," she said. Kibbutz Sufa and the Sufa army outpost faced a heavy attack on October 7. Israeli special forces, "Shayetet 13" commandos, were helicoptered in to reclaim the outpost from Hamas, resulting in the death and capture of dozens of militants. "J", an individual designated as a 'Lone Soldier' by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), relocated to Israel from her home country in 2020, and drafted into the army in 2022. As a 'Lone Soldier,' "J" is eligible for certain stipends to cover expenses and additional leave time to visit her family abroad. “J’s” says her choice to enlist in the IDF was to "understand and see with her own eyes what was happening in Israel" and a passion to defend a country she sees as her second home. After a week or more on duty, “J” returns home to Tel Aviv for the weekends, spending time by the sea and listening to her favourite artist, Justin Bieber. The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered on October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's subsequent assault on the Hamas-governed enclave has since killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to the local health ministry, while also displacing nearly the entire population of 2.3 million, causing a hunger crisis and leading to genocide allegations at the World Court that Israel denies. -Report from Reuters