From Hebrew media, translated with Google, with some edits.
The story of Capt. B* Z*, 23 years old from Herzliya, a tank company CO in the Kissufim sector, on the morning of October 7th.
This is one of the most extraordinary stories I have heard about the fighting that day. Battles that resulted from a mistake and required bravery. Often, what starts with one, requires the other.
Z* is a company CO in the 77th Battalion of the 7th Brigade, part of the forces that held the southern sector of the Gaza Strip. He was stationed in a small outpost called "Mars", on the Gaza border, with the weapons company of the 51st Battalion, Golani. "The event begins, around 6:30 in the morning. The commander above me tells me that there is a terrorist raid near Nirim and tells me to move there. That was the last time I heard from him."
He is advancing, a lone tank, neither knowing nor understanding that the fence has been breached and many hundreds are rushing towards the kibbutzim. "I drive through the fields. At Ein HaShlosha I encounter the first squad of terrorists. Kill them with the MAG. Arrive in the direction of Nirim. Spot two terrorist squads there moving towards the kibbutz. Shoot them with the MAG and then run them over. At this point we receive a report of a large terrorist raid on Kissufim outpost". Z*'s tank changes direction and advances towards Kissufim, not far from the Mars outpost from which it started. "Towards the fence I encounter an ambush by two anti-tank squads.
They shoot at me from two directions. I engage them at short range. Goes up a bit, identifies the source of the shooting. Kills the two squads." These are RPG launchers. "Trophy (tank protection system) dealt with two rockets, and we felt the impact of two others. No penetration."
At this point, company CO Z* receives a call from one of his tanks - the one that is part of the force that protects Nirim, Nir Oz and Maggen. "He tells me that he is damaged, on the fence, and that he is surrounded by terrorists. He was hit by an anti-tank rocket that penetrated the tank. The TC with shrapnel in the neck and the loader with a serious injury. I drive to him, southwards again. His tank can't traverse because it's damaged. I meet him and tell him - follow me. On the way, we observe a massive infiltration of hundreds of terrorists. I recognize the platoon leader tank there. It is completely burnt and on fire. And we recognize two pick-up trucks heading towards the strip, and you can clearly see in them - it's a sight you can't forget - that there are people standing in the truck and they are with a lot of bodies. I try to cross the fence towards the Strip. Fire two main gun rounds in the direction of these vehicles. I don't know if I hit or not, there was a flash. At the moment I fire, I'm hit by three-four anti-tank rockets at once. Not long range, but short range. My Diesel tanks are damaged and starting to leak. Realizing I can't chase into the Strip, I pull back. At this point we are surrounded by hundreds of terrorists. I start shooting MAGs, main gun. Run over dozens. There was a gathering of eight or nine who tried to board the second tank, I killed them."
It should be explained that until this stage, Z* and the other forces do not understand that this is an invasion into the State of Israel. They moved from place to place because of reports about squads; The division camp falls, key commanders are killed. He is on the move from one precedent event, which never happened (a raid by two squads on a kibbutz), to another precedent event (a raid on Kissufim) to a third event of a tank being neutralized and surrounded by Hamas. The tank's radios are damaged, and the Company CO only hears fragments of words. "Kissufim squad", "Nirim two squads", "Ein HaShlosha to arrive".
They are two tanks now: one with injured crew members and in need of immediate medical attention, and unable to traverse. The second, of Z*, suffers from damaged Diesel tanks, and can no longer traverse the main gun (but can elevate and depress it). They go to Kibbutz Maggen. "That's where I hear about an encounter at the entrance to the settlement. We put the damaged tank in some kind of high dugout near Kibbutz Magen. Its MAG could still fire. I told him - 'Anything that comes in front of you, shoot it.' Then we returned. At the entrance to Maggen, near the fence, we killed a squad of four terrorists. After Maggen, I hear that there is an infiltration in the direction of Re'im. I'm going there. Near the division headquarters, my tank stopped working completely, oil and Diesel tanks were damaged." They decide to get out of the tank. "We disembark, all crew members, with MAG. We are at the Gama intersection and vehicles are passing there. I decide that we should go back to the Mars outpost, from where I left, because there is another tank standing there empty. This is the company XO tank. He is at home. I said - I will come in March, I will get on the tank and continue."
At this point, Capt. Z* saw more fighting against terrorists than most of the current IDF brigade commanders. He is in the field, without actual command, without a tank, when the terrorists control the area in practice and the various settlements, and he intends to hitchhike to get on a new tank and continue fighting. "At the intersection, I have already understood the magnitude of the event. Especially given our encounter with the hundreds of terrorists. I see how deep the terrorists have penetrated, given the massacre at the Gama intersection and the massacre on the roads. We tried to find a working car from the ones they shot at. Nothing worked. A Border Police SOF vehicle is coming and they are in a fast movement towards Kissufim. I stopped them. They say they only have one empty place in the car. Now, at the Mars outpost I have two crew members waiting. I'm missing a gunner, and of course I, the tank commander."
He leaves some of the crew behind since the SOF vehicle has not enough room, and enters the trunk (!) to return to fighting. "I took my gunner, he was sitting in front. I got into the trunk. We left it a little open." The SOF vehicle tries to reach an engagement in one of the settlements, so it drops the gunner and Z* not far from the Kissufim intersection. The tankers begin to walk to their outpost, while the agricultural fields are infested with terrorists on motorcycles and pick-up trucks. "When I arrive at the outpost area, I see in the agricultural fields, at distance, these trucks and dozens of terrorists on the move from Ein HaShlosha towards of the outpost. I run towards the outpost, waving my hands to them so that they don't shoot me. When I arrive, it turns out that the weapons company CO (of the 51st battalion from Golani) took the two tankers I had, took the tank, and went out to fight with them. We organize there in positions, the terrorists move to the outpost, and then we open fire by the entire outpost."
They have a problem. Because of the raid in the morning, the mortars remained outside the post. Z* organizes covering fire with Negev machine guns, takes two squads out of the outpost to collect the mortars, "and then we brought them back to the outpost and started hitting with mortars." At this point, the weapons company CO and Z* communicate with each other on the radio network. They agree on a swap: the infantryman who became a tankman (from Golani) will return to his fighters and the tankman who became an infantryman (Z*) will get his tank back.
Z* returns to the tank. He is currently in combat for eight hours straight and 51st battalion CO contacts him on the radio. A battle takes place inside Kibbutz Kissufim. "I spotted three bikers, I killed them. Near the Garden of the Fallen. In the perimeter fence of the kibbutz there is another squad, I kill all five. There were two who ran into the fields, I killed them too. And from that moment me and the 51st battalion CO are a duo that operates together until Monday at noon. I had more engagements. Near the Kissufim outpost two terrorists that we killed. In an open field. On Saturday night there is an engagement inside Kibbutz Kissufim, and I enter the kibbutz with the tank and fire main gun rounds into a house and kill another terrorist squad there."
If you count the tanks that were damaged, starting from Saturday at noon until significant reinforcements arrived on Sunday afternoon, Z*'s tank is the only one that was combat-ready in the entire sector (19 kilometers). The clashes continue on Sunday. "We identify six terrorists near Ein HaShlosha. We killed them. Two more terrorists near Mars. On Monday there are already scans through the settlements, and then there is a big engagement in the cowsheds of Kibbutz Kissufim." He describes a situation in which a terrorist held an Israeli, a Kissufim resident, a hostage. They call the Israeli to run, he does so and the tank immediately fires a main gun round and kills the Hamas terrorist.
Z* says that if you count "up to the end" of the two and a half days of fighting, "that's between 70 and 90 terrorists." I asked him what his first conclusions were from the battle, as a commander in the field. "Wherever there was a tank, we managed to prevent a massacre. I didn't manage to get to Nir Oz. I didn't get to Re'im. But wherever there was a tank, we came out better. It was so in Kerem Shalom, and also in Sufa. Not all murders were prevented, but tanks managed to stop much of the infiltration. In addition, we have a lot of confidence in this tool and in this machine. We were hit by explosive charges and RPGs as well as drones, and the tank kept going. We felt confident with the firepower. At one point we were facing hundreds of people. And one tank alone eliminated and deterred them. Every time we operated according to the doctrine, in a known battle drill, we had the upper hand. And we recovered quickly. After the second encounter, we understood."
I asked him about the whole war. From his story, I noticed two points: in a day or so of combat, half of the tanks in the company were taken out of action. And that's without the use of Kornet missiles. The second point is the lack of command and control at the brigade, or divisional level, due to the surprise and the loss of prominent commanders in the sector. "True, we were surprised. But we came to our senses. I can tell you safely - our ability as an army to stand up to this thing is guaranteed. We will win the war 100%, wherever it is, in the south or in the north."
In the sector they talk about Z* with sparkling eyes. You can understand why. The crew's and his determination to fight, if necessary with a damaged tank, without a tank, or with a replacement tank. Do not stop; Reach the next tank in the trunk if necessary. The 77th Battalion in the 7th Brigade has a reputation, from the days of Avigdor Kahalani and the battle in the Valley of Tears. This young company CO did not embarrass the firm.
