Unit 33 police officers (YouTube/Screenshot)
A small number of Unit 33 police officers battled 30 truckloads of Hamas terrorists, preventing them from reaching central Israel.
By World Israel News Staff
A handful of officers from an elite police unit managed to hold off dozens of invading terrorists for hours on October 7th, 2023, preventing terror cells from reaching the center of the country.
Speaking to Channel 12 News, three officers from Unit 33 – also known as Gideonim – spoke about the intense firefight against some 30 trucks and cars carrying Hamas terrorists.
One member of the unit, identified only by his Hebrew first initial, Ayin, said that he knew that there was a major incident unfolding when he and other officers were called up and told to report to the South.
Ayin saw videos circulating on social media showing terrorists driving through the streets of Sderot, a city adjacent to Gaza.
He explained to Channel 12 that security forces classify border breaches according to their severity. Stage A means terrorists have crossed the border, Stage B means that they’ve reached nearby communities, Stage C means that they’ve reached Southern cities, and Stage D means that terrorists are bound for major cities in central Israel, such as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
“To me, [the situation] looked like somewhere between ‘C’ and ‘D’,” Ayin told Channel 12.
Ayin recounted he and his unit members met at the Black Arrow Memorial, in Mefalsim, less than a kilometer away from the Gaza border.
However, the officers were unaware that the site was being used as a staging area for terrorists aiming to drive to central Israeli cities to expand the terror onslaught.
At least 30 pickup trucks and cars carrying heavily armed Hamas terrorists were present at the site. They opened fire on the officers, wounding two.
The Gideonim officers managed to fire back, engaging in a fearsome battle for hours until IDF units arrived.
Despite taking fire from two sides, none of the elite unit’s members were killed.
The officers killed dozens of terrorists, preventing a more widespread infiltration of Israel.
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