As the foot-thick steel door of the armored personnel carrier hissed open, throwing bright shards of light into a dust-filled cabin, the sounds of intense combat could be heard all around us.
Web was exclusively invited to join the IDF troops leading the fight against Hamas after the murderous events of October 7, when 1,400 Israelis and other nationals were slaughtered by the terrorists and more than 240 men, women and children were taken hostage became.
The trip began with several checkpoints manned by Israeli troops, who could not believe that I and a small group of other journalists would voluntarily set out for war-torn Gaza.
The IDF press credentials we gave them didn’t change much their opinion that these were some crazy people.
Khaki-covered heads were still shaking in disbelief in the early morning sun when the large steel gates began to move.
Web has been exclusively invited to join IDF forces leading the fight against Hamas following the murderous events of October 7th. Pictured: IDF Brigade Colonel Ivri Elbaz
The IDF has discovered no fewer than 17 tunnels in a small area, some of which extend for kilometers. Pictured: Web reporting on the IDF’s clash with Hamas
Israeli troops are filmed marching through Gaza in retaliation for Hamas attacks that shocked the world
Hamas tunnels (one pictured) were described by IDF Brigade Col. Ivri Elbaz as a “city within a city.”
The journey that Web took with the IDF began with several checkpoints manned by Israeli troops who could not believe that a small group of journalists were voluntarily setting out for war-torn Gaza
At our final RV point with the IDF, we were first loaded into Humvees for the mile-long dusty drive to the border.
We walked past orange and olive groves but could only taste and smell the caked dust of the Holy Land on the way to the border.
The Humvees were just an appetizer for the main course – the huge Achzarit (“beast”) APCs that would hurl us across the border.
Web’s Nick Craven (pictured) was invited to Gaza by the IDF
In front of us we could see a gap in the border fence. This one was made by the Israelis, but many others that day were the work of Hamas.
Getting into the beast with body armor and helmets was a feat in itself. As the doors closed and the only light came through narrow slits in the side, the burly sergeant at the .50-caliber machine gun turned with a grin and said, “Welcome to war!”
Then we set off at a brisk pace along the bumpy paths that more than once caused us to slip off each other in the belly of the beast, grateful for the protective gear.
After we climbed out of the APCs, the constant soundtrack, barely a mile away, was of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers pounding Hamas with tank shells and volley after volley of heavy machine gun fire as the terrorists huddled inside North or near it entrenched The Indonesian hospital in the Gaza Strip.
The soldiers we met were men from the Negev Brigade, now stationed in the northern city of Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip. All but their commanding officer are reservists: dentists, mortgage brokers and students faced with the unenviable task of finding the Hamas tunnels, which Brigadier Colonel Ivri Elbaz described as a “city within a city.”
He said: “The tunnels were like a city under the city and Hamas terrorists jumped up like rats, fired shots and then ran away through the tunnel.” Our job is to attack them and take away their ability to fire rockets to fire civilian casualties.”
So far they have found no fewer than 17 tunnels in a small area, some stretching for miles and either connecting to a larger network further south in Gaza City or leading directly into Israel.
The IDF insists it sent out millions of warnings in Arabic that fell from the sky or were sent to telephones, and the implication is that anyone who stays behind is now considered a terrorist. Pictured: Footage captured on the ground by Web
The IDF launched an invasion of Gaza after Hamas terrorists slaughtered 1,400 Israelis and other nationals on October 7. Pictured: Footage Web observed reporters joining the IDF
As the IDF continues its retaliation against Hamas, enormous destruction has been captured on camera
Colonel Elbaz led us to one of the largest tunnel entrances discovered – directly behind a kindergarten – to demonstrate Hamas’ cynical policy of using civilians and their infrastructure as cover and “human shields.”
We walked – or stumbled – through the dusty wasteland of concrete and sand that Beit Hanoun has become after more than a month of intense Israeli bombing from the air, land and sea.
It’s hard to imagine people ever living here again, but you can’t forget that they once did. Everyday objects can be seen through the gaping holes in the walls of almost every house: clothes, sofas and a child’s coloring book.
It is impossible to say whether the homeowners, who once proudly bought curtains and soft furnishings or saved up for a washing machine, were able to escape before the bombs destroyed their homes.
The IDF insists it sent out millions of warnings in Arabic that fell from the sky or were sent to telephones, and the implication is that anyone who stays behind is now considered a terrorist.
Colonel Elbaz, 50, wants to emphasize that his men are citizen soldiers with a moral code, despite aid groups constantly calling for a ceasefire and even claiming that Israel is guilty of “war crimes.”
“I promise you, we are the most moral army in the world,” he said. “We go to great lengths to ensure that civilians are not injured. “We take good care of them and treat them well. Not the way Hamas treated our civilians on October 7th. They went into our homes and kibbutzim, massacred and slaughtered our children and our elderly.
He told Web: “We are a brigade of reservists, fathers and businessmen.” And we have been here for a month, fighting together against Hamas.
“Morale is high, but we are neither happy nor angry.” We feel our nation’s responsibility. And we must tell the world that we have nowhere else to go. World War II reminded us that we are not safe wherever we want to live.
“We need a home and this is it.” “After the Yom Kippur War, we were able to make peace with Egypt, but these new neighbors don’t want peace with us, so we have to fight.”
He said he was surprised at how blatantly and cynically Hamas used hospitals, residential buildings and schools to cover its terrorist activities.
“We see it here every day.” We go to hospitals and find ammunition and tunnels underneath. We check house after house and sadly find tunnel after tunnel full of ammunition and papers explaining how to attack Israel and slaughter Israeli citizens. “Every few hours we find evidence of new tunnels.”
One of the other senior officers, Major Eliezer, a mortgage consultant by day, waved his arm at the soldiers and added: “I want you to look at each and every one of these men.
“Each of us is on reserve and comes from a different background, a different house.”
“Yet we have something that connects us all.” “We are all in the army and we all feel the connection to Israel.”
He said that after October 7, some of the men did not wait to be called away but showed up at their reserve bases.
“We’re trying to figure out how to manage the situation as best we can because we want to get back to our families, but we’re going to stay here until we know our families are safe.”
“Everyone in Israel knows someone affected and knows the pain and anguish of that day.”
Before we left the rubble-strewn strip, the colonel had a somewhat surprising final message for the people of Gaza and the world.
Despite the catastrophic destruction wrought in just a month, he expressed hope that the people of Gaza could one day return and live “peacefully.”
“I think ordinary civilians in Gaza want a normal life.” “Nobody wants wars every six months or every six years,” he said.
An Israeli flag flies at a location in southern Israel as a fireball erupts across the border in the Gaza Strip during an Israeli bombardment November 8
Citizens inspect the Khaled bin Al Walid Mosque, which was destroyed by Israeli attacks in Khan Yunis on November 8
This image provided by Maxar Technologies shows a shortwave infrared (SWIR) close-up of a number of burning buildings and active fires in Gaza City, November 7
“But Hamas is a terrorist organization and it has imposed its agenda on innocent civilians.” And I hope that after the destruction of Hamas, the civilians will return here. “Look, 20 or 30 years ago, people from here came to Tel Aviv and Ashkelon and we came here to trade.
“If we want, it can be a peaceful place again, a normal place.” That can only happen if we destroy Hamas.”
But in Beit Hanoun, the destruction of Hamas has also resulted in the complete destruction of towns and villages – even the streets and alleys are barely recognizable.
Armored Leviathan bulldozers, also known as “teddy bears,” which are normally used in the West Bank to level terrorists’ homes, are now trying to clear away the rubble on one side and at least make the thoroughfares passable again.
This ghostly landscape of bombed-out houses with huge slabs of masonry and reinforced concrete on the ground is just a foretaste of the urban battlefield where Israel’s toughest fight – on the streets of Gaza City – is yet to come.