Israeli South Command

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The South Command is one of the four regional commandos of the Israeli Armed Forces ( Tzahal ) and is responsible for the areas of the Negev , the Arava Depression and Eilat . The current commander is Major General ( Aluf ) Sami Turdzheman .

Subordinate associations

Structure of the Southern Command
  • Corps HQ (to lead reserve divisions in case of war)
  • 366. "Amud ha-Esh" Panzer Division (reserve)
  • Gaza Division (Territorial)
  • 80th "Edom" Division (Territorial)
  • 2 × reserve armored divisions, one of them the 252nd "Sinai" armored division
  • Southern Command Logistics Regiment
  • Southern Command Telecommunications Battalion
  • "Nesher" field reconnaissance battalion (special unit of the Aman military intelligence service )
  • Engineer & Construction Battalion
  • 33rd "Caracal" unisex light infantry battalion
  • 585th Desert Reconnaissance Battalion
  • "Red" anti-terrorist unit in Eilat (reserve)

history

For many years, the Southern Command was primarily responsible for securing the borders with Egypt ( Sinai Peninsula ). It waged Israeli troops in five wars, in the War of Independence , in the Suez Crisis , in the Six Day War (1967), in the Yom Kippur War (1973) and the entire period in the so-called War of Attrition .

The special loads caused by the extraordinary density of operations meant that the commanders changed relatively frequently. The historically most significant replacement was that of Aluf Shmuel Gonen in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War. It became necessary because there was always friction between his predecessor and superior Ariel Sharon and Aluf Shmuel Gonen. The government intervened with a special directive and, because of the serious military situation, appointed the former Chief of Staff ( Ramatkal ) Lieutenant General Chaim Bar-Lev as the new chief of the Southern Command . After the successful outcome of the war and finally after the conclusion of the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty , as a result of which the area of responsibility also shrank through the return of territories to Egypt (Sinai Peninsula and parts of the Gaza Strip ), the southern sector became considerably quieter. The tasks were now limited to border security and the fight against (arms) smuggling and Palestinian guerrilla and terrorist operations .

This changed with the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada . The Southern Command now saw itself responsible for the entire fight against terrorism in the region, particularly in the Gaza area. This place became the stronghold of Islamic fundamentalist extremists and terrorist groups such as Hamas and the Palestinian-Islamic Jihad . This, coupled with one of the highest birth rates in the world, exacerbated the security situation not only for the Israeli state, but also for the Palestinian civilians (population of Gaza), as they were subject to both Israeli retaliation and the political violence of their own so-called representatives of the people (liberation organizations ) was exposed.

At the same time, Gaza developed into a major producer of light anti-tank weapons , which seriously endangered the patrol service of the lightly armored Israeli units. In 2004, the clashes in the Gaza area escalated even further when the Israeli military felt compelled, also by means of covert targeted killings in Palestinian-controlled areas and short tank raids, as well as commandos to locate and destroy illegal smuggling tunnel systems (supply routes for the Palestinians below the Israeli-Egyptian border) to proceed.

All of these active countermeasures increased the IDF ( Israel Defense Force ) casualties considerably. However, the steady firing of Qassam missiles and tunnel activities were not satisfactorily contained. Even the systematic demolitions of entire apartment blocks, which is highly controversial under international law, and the subsequent leveling by pioneers did not lead to the desired result, but to political ostracism by international human rights organizations , which calculated that several thousand buildings in South Gaza had been destroyed in these actions.

In 2005, the Southern Command was involved in the unilateral disengagement plan initiated by Prime Minister (2001 to 2006) Ariel Sharon , which aimed to dismantle all Israeli enclaves (settlements) and withdraw the Israeli population beyond the so-called Green Line (border line). This made a reorganization of the previous command structure necessary and led to the deployment in newly created positions north of the demarcation line to the Gaza Strip, while the Philadelphi Passage was surrendered to Egypt. The Egyptian border controls were unable or unwilling to prevent the movement of thousands of Palestinians between Gaza, Rafah and the Sinai Peninsula.

In 2006 this situation again led to an increase in Qassam rocket attacks and several successful infiltrations by suicide bombers, mostly from Islamic Jihad and the so-called people's liberation groups.

This hotspot is still the main focus of the activities of the Southern Command .