All-woman Israeli Tank Crews Killed 50 Terrorists Over 17 Hours of Combat on October 7

The IDF has come under intense criticism for its initial slow response to Hamas' attack on October 7, but one unit that jumped into action almost immediately was a group of women tank operators from the Paran Brigade that helped turn the tide and clear dozens of terrorists from the kibbutz of Holit.

Composed of young women in their early 20s, the tank crews were the first Western women armored soldiers to go into active battle, according to the IDF.

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Ordered to leave their positions on the Egyptian border, the young soldiers charged into battle, driving north through the region adjacent to the Gaza border, plugging holes in the border, and killing some 50 terrorists over 17 hours of continuous combat.

Driving toward Holit, "my driver spotted two terrorists on the road and reported it. I told her to run them over,” the commander of one of the tanks, a second lieutenant identified as Michal, told Channel 12 News. "She simply ran over the terrorists and moved on, preventing another infiltration."

Upon arriving at the entrance to Holit, the commander’s tank crew found the gate shut. A soldier ran up in a panic, shouting that terrorists had infiltrated the community.

"We make a swing with the tank, break the yellow gate, and start galloping in the direction, guided by that soldier pointing with his hands," she said.

"The tank operators who came with their tanks actually broke the attack," Paran Brigade Commander Col. Shemer Raviv told Channel 12. "In the two places the tanks actually encountered the terrorists' fire, the terrorists were mostly eliminated, and those who weren’t simply ran away because they realized they had no chance… The soldiers, with three tanks at this stage of the attack, fought terrifically, fought in a way that they were purportedly not even trained for – they used fire inside Israeli settlements [and] drove on the roads.

"I think that thanks to those actions in this area, an attack further south was also prevented," he said, saying the debate about the suitability of women in combat roles was "no longer relevant."

"After this war, it will already be clear – both the necessity and the proof of the clear ability there was here," he said.

Women soldiers and security personnel were critical in defending southern Israel during last month's wide-ranging attack, including several who were killed defending the IDF's Zikim base eight kilometers south of Ashkelon against dozens of terrorists who had scattered among three bases in their sector.

In Nir Am, security coordinator Inbal Lieberman, along with her colleagues in the kibbutz's guard detail, saved hundreds of people as she and the other guards fought from positions within the kibbutz while terrorists were just dozens of meters away from the entrance. The event ended when soldiers sent by the military stormed the attackers. Everybody at the kibbutz was saved.

Israelis have celebrated the heroism of servicewomen on October 7, with some also saying that the entire tragedy could have been prevented had the upper echelons of the military listened to the spotters stationed on the Gaza border, all women, who warned of unusual activities. Survivors of the October 7 massacre are convinced that had it been men sounding the alarm, things would have turned out differently.