Following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught on the northwestern Negev, the Israel Defense Forces mobilized 360,000 reservists, including women, for the war in Gaza and against the Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.
Talia, 28, a medical school student who served in the army as a combat paramedic in an infantry unit, was called up for reserve duty and deployed to Gaza and Southern Lebanon.
“In the past, I was always only stationed up to the border. There was no need to cross. This war brought us into Gaza and Lebanon. It feels like everyone has a choice, but for me, it wasn’t even a question,” Talia told JNS.
During her recent deployment in Lebanon, Talia treated soldiers at a mass casualty incident.
“There was a big explosion and it took us a while to figure out what had happened. Four people were killed on the spot and another seven injured, three of them critically.
“It’s a lot of people to treat at once in rough county, a few kilometers into Lebanon. Elsewhere, I could have called in some help. There, communication reception was poor. For me, it was an opportunity to save lives. We did basic triage treatment to stop the bleeding. If you don’t do it on the spot, soldiers will die, it cannot wait until they get to the helicopter,” she said.
Under Hezbollah fire, Talia had to prioritize injuries and send out the most seriously wounded on gurneys to another medical team that had a doctor.
“It was hard to explain the situation via radio because of the poor reception. I was left with those who were somewhat less hurt, but still needed treatment. They needed pain medication. Once you put a tourniquet on someone’s arm or leg, it hurts them so much they try to take it off. It’s very important to handle pain management,” she said.
Talia explained that as a woman, it was a process to gain the respect of her fellow soldiers. “Once, during an operation, the battalion commander asked me to hide my braid, so no one could see that I was a woman. It was horrible, all my confidence disappeared,” she said.
“Another time, I was sent to a new platoon for a week and was told that my presence as a woman was distracting,” she added.
Talia noted that such occurrences were more common at the beginning of her deployment. By the end of her service in Gaza, “most of the soldiers accepted me and related to me as one of them,” she said.
Still, she noted, men and women have different needs. “Men and women act differently. There are also basic issues such as toilets and showers. Also, where do I sleep? I don’t want to bother them, but I also need to take care of myself,” she said.
Talia also described the difficulties reservists may encounter when returning to normal life after extended service.
“I started to go back to school and catch up on everything I missed. I was in Gaza a week earlier, and suddenly I am in university taking an exam on which I know nothing,” she said.
“Then I went on a retreat with Bshvil Hamachar (“For the Sake of Tomorrow”), an organization dedicated to supporting IDF combat reservists. They helped me understand that having a crazy response to a crazy experience is normal,” Talia said.
More than 4,000 reserve soldiers have participated in Bshvil Hamachar retreats in Israel and Eastern Europe, and another 3,000 are on a waiting list. Before Oct. 7, 2023, the nonprofit held 50 retreats per year.
In 2024, despite difficulties from early on in the war, Bshvil Hamachar organized 70 retreats and dozens of smaller journeys for soldiers, many from commando units. Participants are accompanied by a psychologist and a guide with experience in trauma treatment and field therapy.
Ten to 18 participants typically stay together in a cabin in nature for a week and learn to open up to one another. The retreats are meant to support reserve soldiers whether they have completed a stint or are preparing to return to combat.
“This war proved that women can do almost everything that men can do. There are many heroic stories about women fighters. Women also fight very hard to prove themselves as deserving and are reluctant to show any sign of weakness,” Dr. May Nitzan, a family physician and a Bshvil Hamachar guide, told JNS on Wednesday.
Nitzan noted that combat soldiers not only exhibit signs of mental struggle but also bodily symptoms. “We see symptoms like headaches, abdominal pain and constipation. Serving in combat has a price,” she said.
‘Mentally, nobody can prepare you for it’
Anat, 37, a paramedic from Tel Aviv who was drafted for reserve duty, spent more than 20 days on the Gaza battlefield.
“I was in shock. One minute I’m in my car, driving, getting coffee. Next, I’m in a war zone, surrounded by gunpowder and the machinery of war,” she told JNS.
“You cross the border in an armored vehicle. It’s claustrophobic, you are inside with 11 guys and there is barely room to move. You end up questioning your life choices at that point,” she continued.
A civilian paramedic since 2012, Anat was mobilized for a first round of reserve duty on the day of the Hamas invasion and served in the army with the Magen David Adom emergency rescue service inside Israel for 45 days.
“We transferred the wounded from helicopters to hospitals and informed families that their loved ones had been murdered. I felt this was difficult enough, although it was perceived by many people as insufficient because I was in central Israel,” she said.
“When you serve in the reserves, but are not deployed to Lebanon or Gaza, it’s hard for people to understand. To them, it’s as if your life has not changed drastically even though I was constantly on call,” she continued.
Anat went on a journey with Bshvil Hamachar where she met other reservists and combat medics.
After her journey, she decided to enroll in an adaptation course to learn the relevant protocols and join the Givati Infantry Brigade in Gaza.
“Medically, you feel prepared. You feel that you can do what needs to be done. Mentally, nobody can prepare you for it, and the army definitely doesn’t.”
For Anat, the first hurdle was having to use the bathroom once she’d crossed into the Gaza Strip.
“I walked outside and it’s not a safe zone anymore, it needs to be quick. I look around, there are no trees, there’s just sand and you’re surrounded by other vehicles, the vehicles have cameras. You just do what you can,” she said.
“You don’t know when you will be able to pee next, so when you have the opportunity, you take it.
“Nothing is known ahead of time. You sleep in places that have been bombed. You sleep on some 90-year-old mattress. There is no air, it’s boiling hot, there is no shower.”
Anat feared most for her fellow soldiers.
“I was not afraid that I would die, I was afraid I would have to treat the soldiers I was with for serious injuries. I would wake up at every boom. Fortunately, I did have to treat small things but nothing that was caused by Hamas,” she said.
Normal life
Going back to normal life, she said, was not a seamless transition.
“I was expected to go back to work immediately. People treated me as if I had been on vacation. I am a labor delivery nurse and I would have to smile. I felt emotionless and couldn’t connect. I would go to the bathroom and cry.
“If people were able to open their eyes a little more to those who returned from reserve duty, we would be in a better place,” she said.
Women, Anat said, do belong on the battlefield and their emotional intelligence is needed there.
“We are wanted there, we have a special power, there is no name for it but it’s something we have as women that is needed there, and we are welcome. The army does an amazing job with this, and society needs to do better,” Anat said.
The best units
Lt. Col. (res.) Avital Leibovich, former IDF spokesperson for international media, told JNS on Sunday that 86% of units are open for women.
“It was a process that took place over decades—until the pilot’s course, ship commander’s course and combat units securing our borders were open to women,” she said.
“We see a demand by the girls themselves who want to be recruited to the best units. We also see that women on the battlefield are appreciated and their contribution, whether as paramedics, infantry fighters or intelligence officers, is well recognized,” she added.
The Israeli military is a microcosm of Israeli society, Leibovich explained.
“There are religious people, secular, Muslims, Christians, so obviously it’s not an easy task to integrate women to each and every unit, but it’s doable,” she said.
“We see them in Gaza saving lives. A female doctor on the battlefield is with her battalion all the time. When the battalion needs to conquer a Hamas camp or a Hezbollah outpost, she is with them and she is an integral part of it,” she added.
“In the future, we will have additional roles for women for two reasons. First, because of growing demand by the women themselves, but also because we are facing so many security challenges and we need each and every regular, and combat, soldier we can get,” Leibovich said.