Israel’s new multi-dimensional ‘Ghost’ unit is active in Gaza fighting terrorists using the latest technology. Earlier this week, The Jerusalem Post had a chance to spend an afternoon with the unit, on the border of Gaza and also inside Gaza in Jabalya as the unit conducts its mission against terrorists.
In Jabalya, the soldiers had taken over several buildings where they were monitoring the neighborhood and collecting information using drones and other new technologies. The unit directed a tank to neutralize a threat in a building and used precision mortars against the enemy.
The multi-dimensional unit was created in 2019 as part of the IDF’s larger plan, known as Momentum, to bring more technology to frontline forces. This meant knitting together infantry units with combat engineers, armored units and also the air force, so that all these forces could work seamlessly together and bring the most amount of effective firepower to the front as fast as possible.
IDF ‘Ghost’ unit uses new tech to fight Hamas in Gaza (SETH J. FRANTZMAN)
The Ghost unit is part of the 99th division, which combines these elements. In 2020 the new multi-dimensional unit was deployed to the northern border. In 2022 the unit trained with other elements of the 99th division in Tze’elim for the kind of warfare they are facing now in Gaza.
Members of the unit fell during the October 7 attack on Israel. Col. Roi Levy, the commander of the Ghost unit was killed in battle near Reim. Members of the unit also helped liberate Kibbutz Beeri from terrorists. The unit has lost three other members in battles since the Hamas attack on that dark Shabbat.
Now the Ghosts have been able to bring the fight to the enemy inside Gaza. The IDF said on December 24 that in Jabalya, “soldiers, in cooperation with the Multidimensional Unit and the Yahalom Unit, exposed a strategic tunnel network that served as Hamas’ northern headquarters in Gaza.”
The IDF also said on December 18 that the multi-dimensional unit helped uncover a terrorist cash stash in a house in Jabalya. This included around 5 million NIS. The 99th division has also eliminated hundreds of terrorists.
Entering Gaza with the ‘Ghosts’
To prepare to go into Gaza with the Ghosts, we arrived at a field near the border with Gaza. The fields are now turned a lush green because of the winter rains. However, the fighting casts a shadow. As we prepared to embark into Gaza there was a red alert and sirens and mortars fell in the field nearby.
WATCH: JPost’s @sfrantzman reports on the ground in Gaza, as he spent an afternoon with Israel’s new elite multi-dimensional unit in Jabalya >>Read more: https://t.co/GXBg4ittEf pic.twitter.com/B5wfvrtqwa
— The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) December 30, 2023
The Ghost unit is an elite infantry unit that also uses new technology. As such it tries to be both a combat unit and also harness information to bring in air strikes and coordinate other missions as fast as possible. For instance, the new Iron Sting precision mortar system was used to target terrorists during our time with the forces.
In addition, small drones are constantly being cycled in and out of Gaza. These drones can act in swarms or as a group to gather information. IDF units like this also provide feedback to the companies that make this technology, such as Elbit Systems.
A Namer Armored Personnel Carrier would be our transport into Jabalya. We packed into the iron belly of the APC and the door sealed us in. From then we could only hear the churning of the treads of the vehicle, as we ascended into the heart of Jabalya.
The battle in Gaza since October 7 is not the first operation they have done. They were active in Operation Guardian of the Walls. In Gaza, the unit has eliminated at least 86 terrorists, part of the larger number eliminated by the 99th division and other units fighting in Jabalya.
Using new technologies fighting in Jabalya
The fighting in Jabalya combines new technology with the old methods of warfare that have worked for hundreds of years. For instance, the unit coordinated with tanks to neutralize a threat in a building 100 meters from our position. The tank fire destroyed a room and machine gun fire completed the job. Drones also were used by the unit to monitor the situation.
That means it combines drones and precision and knits together intelligence to bring in air strikes quickly; while using manpower on the ground to clear areas, bit-by-bit.
It has been more than eighty days of fighting. Units like the Ghosts were supposed to bring the technology that would make wars more efficient and firepower more effective, to defeat enemies faster. To get to that ideal, the IDF will need to integrate this kind of technology on a much larger scale, while the fighters act as a test bed for the new tech.
A longer version of this article will appear in an upcoming Jerusalem Post Magazine
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