The fall of the Paga military outpost near Kibbutz Be’eri on Oct. 7, 2023, opened the way for Hamas terrorists to reach the community, where civilians and security personnel were killed or taken hostage, according to an Israel Defense Forces investigation released on Thursday.
The probe found that troops defending the position were not prepared for the scale or nature of the surprise attack.
The battle at the Paga outpost left 18 soldiers and commanders dead and 22 wounded, while the bodies of two soldiers were taken to the Gaza Strip. Between 60 and 80 Hamas terrorists attacked the position in several waves, exploiting multiple breaches along the border.
The investigation found that the company stationed at Paga was not adequately prepared for its defensive mission. Its training and operational routine had focused primarily on repeated disturbances along the Gaza border rather than a large-scale, simultaneous assault.
“This reality affected their state of mind and the training and drills system, which did not correspond to the scenario of a simultaneous surprise attack throughout the entire sector,” investigators said.
The outpost was manned by troops from the Golani Brigade’s 13th Battalion, supported by a tank platoon from the 7th Armored Brigade. Despite having fortified fighting positions, the troops lacked sufficient combat equipment, ammunition and defensive infrastructure, according to the investigation.
Hamas began its assault at 6:29 a.m. with a massive rocket barrage and simultaneous incursions across the border. Israeli tanks engaged the infiltrators but came under repeated attack.
One tank was struck by a drone-dropped warhead, while another was later hit by an anti-tank missile, killing tank commander Staff Sgt. Shay Levinson. His body was taken to Gaza.
Terrorists entered the outpost within minutes and attacked from several directions. As the fighting intensified, commanders were killed or wounded, communications and defensive capabilities were disrupted, and some soldiers were left without full combat equipment.
The investigation also found significant problems in coordination between ground forces and the Israeli Air Force. Several attempts were made to provide aerial assistance, but most were ineffective because of communication gaps and an incomplete understanding of the situation on the ground.
Battle intensifies
As the battle continued, surviving soldiers gathered in a fortified dining hall. At around 1 p.m., terrorists set fire to mattresses and diesel fuel around the building and pumped smoke inside, causing the soldiers to choke and partially lose consciousness.
Five soldiers subsequently attempted to leave the building and engage the attackers. All five were killed.
The first substantial rescue forces reached the outpost between 4:20 and 4:50 p.m., by which time the terrorists had withdrawn. The rescuers cleared the compound and evacuated the wounded.
The investigation concluded that the IDF “failed to fulfill its defensive mission” and was unable to prevent “the infiltration of terrorists into Be’eri and the capture of Paga outpost.”
It described the outcome as reflecting “the systemic failure to prepare for a broad surprise attack and to fulfill the responsibility to defend the sector against such an attack.”
Despite the failures, investigators highlighted the conduct of soldiers and junior commanders who continued fighting for hours under extraordinarily difficult conditions.
“There were displays of heroism and independent actions worthy of note at the level of junior commanders and soldiers,” the report said, describing the circumstances facing the troops as “complex to the point of being impossible.”
Wider failures
The Paga investigation is part of a series of detailed IDF probes examining how Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists were able to breach the Gaza border, attack Israeli communities and overrun military positions on Oct. 7.
The investigations have examined failures in command, intelligence and military preparedness, including the IDF’s assessment of Hamas’s intentions and intelligence warnings in the days leading up to the attack, while much of the military’s attention remained focused on potential threats from Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
However, an external review of 25 of the reports by a panel of former senior military officers found that many were incomplete or unsatisfactory.
The IDF probes address operational, intelligence and command issues but do not examine decisions made by the political echelon.
Some 1,200 people were killed and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage during the Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
