The
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...
Gaza Division (Territorial), is subordinate to the
Southern Regional Command. Its area of operation is the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
and the area surrounding it. The division's commander is Brigadier-General
Eliezer Toledano
Eliezer Toledano ( he, אליעזר טולדנו; born 12 October 1973) is an Israeli Aluf (major general) who served as the commander of the Paratroopers Brigade, Military Secretary to the Prime Minister, and the commander of the Gaza Division. ...
.
The Gaza Division had been entrusted with the safety and security of Jewish settlers in the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
after the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War (, ; ar, النكسة, , or ) or June War, also known as the 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states (primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, S ...
in times of peace and armed conflict. In August 2005, the division, along with the rest of the IDF, officially ended its presence in the Gaza Strip as part of
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
The Israeli disengagement from Gaza ( he, תוכנית ההתנתקות, ') was the unilateral dismantling in 2005 of the 21 Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip and the evacuation of Israeli settlers and army from inside the Gaza Strip.
Th ...
when Jewish settlements were dismantled. However, the Gaza Division has repeatedly entered the Gaza Strip in response to rocket attacks from Palestinian militant groups based in Gaza.
[Gal Perl Finkel]
Changing the rules in the Gaza Strip comes with a cost
The Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...
, October 13, 2018.
In September 2015 the division was renamed 143rd "Fire Fox" (Territorial) Division.
Units
* 143rd "Fire Fox" (Territorial) Division
** "Gefen" (Territorial) Brigade (Northern Gaza)
** "Katif" (Territorial) Brigade (Southern Gaza)
***
585th Bedouin Desert Reconnaissance Battalion
** 414th "Nesher"/"Eagle"
Field Intelligence Battalion
** Division Signal Battalion
** "Steel Cats" Heavy Engineer Company (Northern Gaza)
** "Knights of Steel" Heavy Engineer Company (Southern Gaza)
See also
*
Judea and Samaria Division
The Israel Defense Forces 877th Judea and Samaria Division ( he, אוּגְדָּת אֵזוֹר יְהוּדָה וְשׁוֹמְרוֹן, ; also known as the West Bank Division) is a regional division in the Israeli Central Command. It is res ...
*
Operation Summer Rains (2006)
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
References
{{Israel Defense Forces
Divisions of Israel
Gaza Strip
Gaza–Israel conflict
Southern Command (Israel)