Israeli Order of Battle in the Gaza Strip

July 29, 2014

We are stuck in the middle of yet another bloody and seemingly never-ending war between Hamas in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli military. This is the third Israeli military invasion of the Gaza Strip in the past decade, and the previous two Israeli incursions achieved very little of any substance other than to strengthen Hamas’ hold on power in Gaza.

For an excellent backgrounder to this particular conflict and the threat posed by the Hamas stockpile of rockets, see this well done piece by Rick Francona.

Figuring out what units the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have committed to the fighting in the Gaza Strip is a difficult task given the Israeli penchant for secrecy. A week ago a blogger, who goes by the moniker “Corporal Frisk,” posted a partial order of battle for the IDF forces participating in the Gaza Strip operation on his website, which can be accessed here.

I decided to go one step further. It is a morbid process, but I have been able to partially reconstruct the combat units currently being used by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) during the ongoing Gaza Strip campaign by perusing the daily casualty lists published by the Israeli Defense Ministry.

Here are the IDF units that I have identified to date that are currently operating in the Gaza Strip:

* 84th Givati Infantry Brigade: Colonel Ofer Vinter

* 1st Golani Infantry Brigade: Colonel Ghassan Alian

* Nahal Brigade: Colonel Uri Gordin

* 7th “Saar Golan” Armored Brigade

* 35th Parachute Brigade

* 401st Armored Brigade

* 90th or 96th Territorial Division (Gaza Strip Division)

* Northern Gaza Brigade

* Southern Gaza Brigade

Not included in this list are a half-dozen or so super-secret Israeli military commando, special reconnaissance and covert intelligence collection units operating in Gaza, but whose identities and operations are being kept top secret for the time being.

Needless to say, all of the units listed above are among the best combat units in the Israeli Army. The 1st Golani Infantry Brigade and the 7th “Saar Golan” Armored Brigade are normally deployed on the Golan Heights facing Syria. The 35th Parachute Brigade is normally based outside the seaside city of Netanya north of Tel Aviv. The NAHAL Infantry Brigade is normally station outside Jerusalem in the Central Command area of operations. The fact that all of these elite units were pulled out of northern and central Israel and are now operating in the Gaza Strip says a lot about how important this operation is to the Israelis.

Note that the commander of the elite Golani Brigade, Colonel Ghassan Alian, who was wounded in the face early on in the Gaza fighting, is one of the highest ranking Druze officers currently serving in the IDF. Any by reputation, one of the toughest and most experienced field commanders in the IDF.