“We are in the war of independence, if we want to continue to be a free people in our country, we have to keep fighting. Even if we break down, even if we cry – we immediately bite our lips and go out to win. We all understand why we are here”, with these words Petah A, a unit commander Cherry’s reserve the interview with him. A. and dozens of his subordinates have been in reserve for more than 100 days, during which they go on hundreds of raids in the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria, eliminate dozens of terrorists, thwart terrorist squads and try to prevent the next attack.
“We carried out a broad operation against terrorist infrastructures,” number one. “For example, in Menasha we thwarted a terrorist squad that had explosives and planned to carry out attacks against forces operating deep in the area. We also acted against settlements and civilian centers. In Jericho we thwarted a explosives squad that planned to carry out attacks in the area of the settlements around the city, and in Yehuda we uncovered a terrorist infrastructure in the al-Fawar camp. This is a long process of Mowing the lawn’, we have to constantly make sure that the terrorist infrastructure does not grow there, and therefore we have to act there very intensively.”
Dovdvan reserve forces in Yosh | Photo: IDF spokesman
Offers consist of 3 sectors
Since October 7, a decision was made in the security system in general and the IDF in particular to suppress the terrorist organization of Hamas in the territories of Judea and Samaria. For this important task, the soldiers of the Dovdvan unit were recruited in the IOS division.
“From the very first night,” says A about his recruitment immediately after October 7, “the unit’s fighters operated in 3 different sectors that included complex operations. We ended them with the upper hand. There are times when, unfortunately, the events end with casualties, but this must not break us, Because we know it’s a war.”
A. Commander of the Dovdvan unit in the reserves Photo: IDF spokesman
“Our resilience is the reserve army,” clarifies A. “These reservists are ready to be here at any given moment. We are highly motivated even now, after more than 100 days of fighting. On the one hand, they want to stay here as long as they need us, and on the other hand, they want to return home, to sort things out, because the understanding that war is long”.
Regarding the nature of the fighting in the refugee camps against the terrorists, A says: “What we saw on October 7th was global terrorism based on and coming from Iranian infrastructure, which uses Hamas as its proxy organization, in order to carry out a plan to attack Israel.”
“Terrorist organizations incited in mosques before the massacre and in schools, this is how they produce potential terrorists everywhere,” he describes. When A was asked if this is also the case in the refugee camps, he says: “The refugee camps have fertile ground for terrorist activities. We operated from the eastern border in the Farah refugee camp (near Nablus), and we reached the refugee camps of Jenin and Nur-e-Shams (near Tulkarm )”.
The activity of Dovdvan’s reservists in Yosh since October 7 | Photo: IDF spokesman
“From the beginning of the war, we recognized that in this area there are arteries of terrorism through which both illegal drugs and money are transported,” says A. We literally moved from refugee camp to refugee camp in a systematic way, and together with the forces from the HATMARs we carried out extensive activities, which include arrests and thwarting terrorist squads, and the elimination of terrorists who tried to harm the forces. This is the situation on the ground, the terrorist infrastructure is examining us, but we always have the upper hand.”
“The motivation of the reservists is very high.” A. Medvedvan | Photo: IDF spokesman
Many times they found themselves A and the fighters also operate inside the Palestinian villages. And if in the past the trend in the security system was that the Palestinian village is a much calmer place, a place where the common man wants to find his bread, then the trend has changed.
“Today, even in the villages there is a fertile ground for terrorism,” says A. “Because the terrorists also manage to reach the villages and create terrorist infrastructures there. In fact, we see that there is shooting at Israeli settlements near villages, this is carried out by terrorists who left the refugee camps to carry out the attack Or they use the houses to carry out the terrorist acts. Today there is no village without terrorism in Judea and Samaria. And in every such village we will act. The enemy in front of us is not the Falah, it’s the terrorist organizations, they are the ones who turn every good part into a dirty and stinking part, because they want to hurt us.”
Dovdvan reserve forces in Yosh | Photo: IDF spokesman
“We all understand why we are here”
“The terrorists are afraid of us, even in places where they thought we were a ‘wounded animal’ after October 7,” declares A. “So far we have killed 35 terrorists. We have conducted 240 offensive activities, over 100 activities in particular in the refugee camps in Judea and Samaria, including: Pharaoh, Jalzon, Qalandiya, the Jenin camp and the Tulkarm camp. Over 500 wanted persons have been arrested, of which over 200 are Hamas members. We arrested people in cafes, in their beds, on the street or while driving,” number one. “And despite all the challenges, we stand firm. The terrorists try to take advantage of opportunities to harm us, but we are ahead of them.”
Dovdvan reserve forces in Yosh | Photo: IDF spokesman
He says about his family’s struggle since he went to war: “I have a wonderful and special wife who raises seven children, she is an IDF widow, and despite the difficulty she does it with great bravery. Each of us comes with a personal story, but we all have one thing in common – our families are the ones who support us and we are all committed to the mission. The motivation of the reservists is very high, we trust the reservists, and we trust the commanders and the systems that knew how to activate us when needed.”
Dovdvan reserve forces in Yosh | Photo: IDF spokesman
The interview with A took place a day after the extent of the disaster in which 21 reservists fell became clear. “It definitely affects all of us,” he says. “We also lost a member of the unit on the first day of fighting in the south – the late Omri Michaeli, but we are here to fight to say that their fall was not in vain. We are in a war of independence and if we want to continue to be a free people in our country – we have to keep fighting.”
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