On May 16th, halfway through Israel's operation "Guardian of the Walls," the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Israel's Navy, including the SEAL unit (Shayetet-13) had attacked more than 100 targets below and above ground in Gaza.
The targets included terrorists, an unmanned submarine and a tunnel from a Gaza hotel plaza to the sea intended for Hamas commandos. When aircraft were unavailable to eliminate targets, navy ships were able to conduct surgical strikes, firing missiles across Gaza from the sea to eliminate targets on the Gaza-Israel border.
We spoke with First Sergeant D. of the Israel Navy SEALs (Shayetet-13), who operated a weapons system aboard one of those ships:
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"On the 12th of May, I got the call to report to base. I was at my parents’ house with my family in another part of Israel, but I was on base in uniform within two hours. My wife and I have a 16-month-old son and they went up north to stay with her parents. A rocket later landed 200 meters from our house. The attacks feel different now that I have a child. In the past, I stayed in my home.
"I’m a reservist and train around 20 days per year with my team. Some years, I give 10 more days to help run the training course on my team’s unique capability. We specialize in a particular weapons system used by the boats. We had a training exercise a few months ago for this exact scenario [identical to Operation Guardian of the Walls].
"When we headed to sea, we were mentally prepared for another Tzuk Eitan [Operation Protective Edge, the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas]. That was 50 days long and I was in active service at that time, doing a less complicated job. During our training to join the unit, there is an “escape week” when we spend one week like we are in an enemy country, hiding during the day and finding food and water wherever we can. After five days, a helicopter is supposed to rescue us but at the last minute we learn the helicopter has “crashed.” We must survive another 24 hours. This is one of many ways the unit teaches us to be prepared for anything.
"From the sea, using a special optics system, I could clearly see Hamas firing rockets from Gaza that landed inside Gaza. I could also clearly see Hamas using schools and hospitals to fire rockets and store weapons. Seeing this, my teammates and I all felt how important it was to be precise.
"After eight days of operations, I was relieved by guys on my reserve team. I was supposed to go home for two days and come back, but the operation ended and I wasn’t needed again. I was with my family when we learned of the cease-fire. Having been through this with Hamas before, we assumed it wasn’t real and wouldn’t last until morning. It was a long time until it really sunk in that the fighting was over.
"I was relieved because I wanted to return to my regular life. During my eight days at sea, I had not communicated with my family for six days straight. My wife really needed me in this time. Although none of us want to be in this situation, I’m glad that I’m capable of doing this important job in the time of need."
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