In a letter delivered to the defense minister and the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff on Thursday, parents of female soldiers and officers killed at the Nahal Oz base on October 7, 2023, asked that their daughters’ bravery be officially recognized by the military.
News of the letter reached Hebrew media on Sunday, as a new cohort of surveillance soldiers was drafted. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir visited the recruits, to whom he praised the heroism of the troops at Nahal Oz and acknowledged the scale of the military’s failure that day.
The Nahal Oz base was the hardest-hit IDF facility in Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, during which some 5,600 terrorists stormed across the border, massacred some 1,200 people, and took 251 hostages to Gaza.
The families of 16 slain troops wrote in their letter, widely quoted in Hebrew media: “It is appropriate that the IDF officially recognize the heroism of the female surveillance soldiers and senior officers of the Nahal Oz base in a manner that reflects their courage and exceptional performance.”
The families wrote the letter about a month after they were presented with the findings of the military’s official probe into the Hamas-led assault on the base, which investigators called one of the IDF’s biggest failures that day.
In all, 53 soldiers were killed at the base: 31 combat troops and 22 noncombatants — including the 16 female surveillance soldiers. Another 10 were abducted — seven female surveillance soldiers and three tank soldiers.
The torched command center of the Nahal Oz IDF base, overrun by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, during a visit by relatives of slain lookout soldiers on December 19, 2023. (Courtesy/Eyal Eshel)
“The mind still refuses to digest the magnitude of the failure and abandonment. The heart will never heal… Our girls warned about the exercises, the preparations, the training, the ‘white Toyotas,’ and nothing was done,” the letter read. “Even when they warned that they were being observed, no one did anything about it. They were robbed of their lives.”
For months before Hamas’s onslaught, female surveillance soldiers reported signs of suspicious activity along the Gaza border, situated less than a mile from them. No action was taken by the more senior officers who received the reports, and the information was disregarded as unimportant by intelligence officials.
“In the investigation, we were also exposed to the heroism of the soldiers,” the parents wrote.
“The investigation explicitly stated that they saved lives,” they noted, emphasizing the finding that “two female surveillance soldiers managed to repel grenades that the terrorists threw into the shelter. With bare hands, barefoot and in pajamas, they acted heroically and saved lives.”
The parents concluded with a request ahead of the upcoming Memorial Day — which falls on April 30 this year — that the women’s bravery be formally recognized “by bestowing an honor that will reflect their courage, sacrifice, and absolute dedication to their duty.
The surveillance troops “must not be remembered merely as a symbol of the abandonment and the failure [of that day] — their legacy must be written in the history books of the IDF in the chapter on the heroes and heroines of Israel,” they said.
The letter was signed by the parents of all 16 slain surveillance soldiers, as well as the parents of Cpl. Noa Marciano, who was abducted into Gaza and then killed in captivity.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir meets with female surveillance soldiers at the Tel Hashomer induction center, April 6, 2025. (Israel Defense Forces)
News of the letter came Sunday, as a new batch of surveillance soldiers were drafted into the military. Chief of Staff Zamir visited the induction center near Tel Aviv to welcome the recruits — his first visit to an induction center since being appointed to the role.
“We have great appreciation for the important security work of the female observers on all borders. The war proved more than ever that female observers are an essential part of maintaining the country’s security – you are the ‘eyes of the nation,’” he told the soldiers.
“The IDF failed on October 7, but the female observers who were on duty did not fail. They were the first to act with courage and bravery under fire,” Zamir said.
Zamir also made comments aimed at the ultra-Orthodox community, who largely don’t serve, saying: “The IDF’s stance is clear — equality in bearing the burden. Those who give more will receive more! Everyone must bear the stretcher of national security.”
During last year’s military draft, the Combat Intelligence Collection units — where surveillance soldiers serve — saw a 210% turnout. The military often funnels more conscripts than it needs to certain units, expecting a percentage to refuse the positions.
It’s not (only) about you.
Supporting The Times of Israel isn’t a transaction for an online service, like subscribing to Netflix. The ToI Community is for people like you who care about a common good: ensuring that balanced, responsible coverage of Israel continues to be available to millions across the world, for free.
Sure, we’ll remove all ads from your page and you’ll unlock access to some excellent Community-only content. But your support gives you something more profound than that: the pride of joining something that really matters.
Join the Times of Israel Community
Join our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You’re a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel – to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)
{if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?
n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};
if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′;
n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;
t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’,
‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’);
fbq(‘init’, ‘272776440645465’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
