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Source: https://www.ynetnews.com/magazine/article/h1wteufbfg#google_vignette
Bedouin IDF Trackers Hunt Hizbullah
(Ynet News) Yoav Keren - Lt.-Col. H., the tracker officer of the 810th Mountains Brigade, is a Bedouin who was seriously wounded on Oct. 7 in the battle for Kibbutz Holit. "I was hit by four bullets that shattered both of my legs....I have metal plates in my legs. I could have stayed home, but it was obvious to me that I would return to service," he said. "I love this country. I am part of the people of Israel. That is how I was educated and how I grew up." His grandfather served in the Palmach's Bedouin unit and took part in defending northern communities during the War of Independence. All of H.'s brothers serve in the security establishment. "So how could I stay home?" The trackers under his command are all Bedouin. "It was important to me to bring trackers who fought on Oct. 7, who had been in Gaza, who had been wounded and had people killed beside them, and who had operated alongside commanders on the front line. Not just trackers, but combat soldiers in every sense. You see the trackers here first thing in the morning, opening the routes before everyone else to make sure there are no explosive devices." Sgt.-Maj. (res.) S., 40, a member of the tracker team, described how, a year and a half ago, three suspicious figures were spotted approaching the border. "It was 4 a.m., under extremely heavy fog. A Zik drone that was in the air took out all three of them." They "went to recover the bodies. When we examined them, it turned out they were Iranians who had been working with Hizbullah. They had Iranian passports, with entry stamps for Lebanon." The trackers' testimony marks the first disclosure that Iranian personnel had reached the immediate vicinity of the Israeli border and that some were killed in Israeli strikes. H. says, "There is no replacement for the tracker walking in front. Not high-tech, not AI, nothing." He adds, "Since Oct. 7, the members of Kibbutz Holit invite me every year to light a Hanukkah candle with them." H. has also visited Bedouin schools and encouraged students to enlist. "And they enlist. They send me photographs from the army."