The Hamas vs IDF fight is almost surreal...it's like a work of military fiction...

I'll post the link to the whole thing at the end of the article...but PLEASE read the entire article.  This is a mind blowing fight.  via Times Of Israel...

The raid, in which an Israeli lieutenant colonel — who can only be identified by the first Hebrew letter of his name, “Mem” — was killed and another officer wounded, degenerated into a gunfight in the street and a frenetic car chase.

The Israeli special forces unit was forced to hastily retreat, calling in airstrikes for cover and the elite search-and-rescue Unit 669 to evacuate them by helicopter.

Recordings of the radio chatter by Hamas fighters were obtained by Hadashot television news earlier this week, which gave no indication as to their origin and declined to broadcast the audio recording itself, “in order not to expose a source,” the news network said.

The authenticity of the recordings has not been confirmed by Israeli authorities, which have remained almost entirely silent on the nature and outcome of the raid.

According to the Hadashot broadcast, the Israeli special forces team was first identified as suspicious by Hamas security officials, possibly police officers, who saw the car passing by them on the outskirts of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.



“To all forces and positions, a blue Volkswagen is driving suspiciously and very fast near the Islamic University,” one official says on the radio, according to the transcript.

“There are suspicious people in the vehicle. They’re dangerous. Approach with caution,” he adds.

It is clear from later chatter that, at this stage, the Hamas forces still believe they are dealing with either a criminal gang or, possibly, a militia group not under their control.

According to an account of the events provided by Hadashot, Hamas forces then begin trailing the car and are soon engaged in a chase through the streets of Khan Younis. As one Hamas vehicle chases the IDF unit from the west, other Hamas units set up a roadblock to the east.

At some point, someone opens fire. It is not clear from the Hadashot report who it was, but earlier reports from Gaza said Hamas believes the IDF force opened fire first.

It is only then, with the IDF force believing it is exposed and an IDF rescue operation underway, that Hamas officials reportedly realized they were dealing with Israelis.The Hamas radio traffic then resumes, according to the transcript. “The car ran through our checkpoint and fired at us from the vehicle. All forces, converge on this location. Everyone must converge on the area to deal with this situation.”

“Fighter jets are suddenly above us. Everyone be careful,” a voice says over the radio. And shortly after: “Listen carefully to our instructions. They’re Jews.”

It is roughly at this point that the IDF commander in the field, Lt. Col. Mem, is hit by Hamas gunfire, and mortally wounded.

Story here. 

I posted an article on the LT Col's death.  I didn't know he was involved in an operation of this type/magnitude.  I am NOT casting aspersions on the man but I will state that he did not have the "hard" appearance of a man that was involved in life or death situations where physicality would play a role in his survival (and I know that NOT having that type of look could play to his advantage in certain situations).

So having said that it blows me away that the IDF would so casually wade into the lion's den so to speak.

This whole thing has me spinning.

The infiltration itself sounds like it's out of spy novel.  The devices they were planting is also a mystery.  Finally how do you mount a rescue operation deep into HAMAS territory without it turning into a clusterfuck from hell...I'm talking about a Thunder Raid on steroids!

Simply amazing.

I'm certain of only one thing.

Just like the US needs to rethink its war in Afghanistan (and Syria), the IDF needs to rethink it's operations against HAMAS.  I think they've used the same playbook for so long that they're getting a little sloppy and their enemy knows it just as well as they do.

Side note.  Which IDF Special Ops Unit was this?  Everyone is pointing to Sayeret Matkal but this wasn't a direct action or even HIGHLY SPECIALIZED undercover assignment so I'm guessing no.  Additionally against Hamas?  They're low level for those bubbas.  Unit 8200 is their intel guys but they're supposed to be like the NSA.  Maybe there is an "action cell" inside Unit 8200 that does the field work?