Shooting like a girl: Meet the IDF's exceptional female combat soldiers

The heroism of the IDF’s female soldiers on October 7 surprised many who didn’t expect that women would be able to handle combat situations.

Female tankers fought Hamas terrorists who had infiltrated the country, women fought Hamas terrorists as they infiltrated bases, and female light infantry soldiers responded to incidents all over the South – all with a cool head and professionalism that some have argued female soldiers are not capable of.

Since October 7, women IDF soldiers have continued to prove that they are capable and professional soldiers in wartime fighting.

Women have been serving in Israel’s North and South, as well as in Gaza, continuing to refute the idea that they are incapable of serving as combat soldiers, whether because of physiological or psychological reasons.

Ofri, the only female combat soldier in her battalion, always wanted to serve in combat. As a paramedic, she does everything alongside the male fighters in her unit.

“I am really part of the [soldiers]; this means that I got out to [make] arrests with them,” she said, adding that she also completes missions with them.

When she first got to her unit, the other soldiers there didn’t think that she would take a real combat role alongside them, Ofri said.

During a training exercise in the Golan Heights, when Ofri hiked the entire 120 km. alongside her unit with her gear – around 30 kg. worth – on her back, her unit understood that she was with them all the way.

When her unit was sent into Gaza, it was obvious to Ofri that she was going with them, but some of the soldiers with her were surprised, not knowing that women were ever sent across borders.

“It kind of made me laugh,” she said. “I explained to them, ‘Why do I do everything I do if not for this?’”

Many were happy to hear that Ofri would be with them, and her friends in the unit pulled her aside to tell her so.

In Gaza, Ofri continued to be an integral part of her combat unit, fighting alongside the male soldiers. She was in the leading company in her battalion.

“I was with them in everything,” she said. “Whether clearing houses, guarding with [the company], throwing grenades and shooting, [I did] everything just like they do.

“I proved to them and to myself that there is no difference [between her and the male soldiers]. I carried the same bag, and even more [weight] than some others, and did exactly what they did,” she said.

Some have asserted that men and women cannot form the kind of bonds necessary to support each other in combat situations, or that adding women to male units would negatively affect the social structure of the unit.

According to Ofri, this is not the case. When asked about her bond with the men in her unit, she said that gender has no impact.

“They are my best friends; they are like my big brothers. Just as I will do anything for them, they will do anything for me. I am sure of that; I trust them.”

Ravid, the commander of a team of snipers, also always wanted to be in a combat role.

On October 7 she was in a commanders course, and home on leave for the holiday in the small kibbutz in the Gaza border area where she lived with her family.

Hearing the sirens and seeing the videos coming out, she realized something different was happening.

Speaking to the security coordinator of her community, she realized that, other than her, no one had a rifle on the kibbutz. Other than a handful of people with guns, she was the only person with a serious weapon to defend the kibbutz.

Ravid’s unit was sent to replace forces that were needed in the South, but with her commander’s permission, she stayed behind to defend her community in the days it took for forces to be stationed in her community.

Once the forces arrived, Ravid finished the commanders course and was sent to command a team of snipers. Around two weeks after entering the role, her team was sent into Gaza.

Once given the order, “without thinking, within something like 12 hours, we were ready [for action in Gaza],” she said.

Her team was stationed at the front of an area held by IDF forces. When asked if things were quiet or if her team participated in a lot of fighting, Ravid said the team had plenty of “successes.”

“We could check off a tick mark on our work,” she said. “Lets put it that way.”

YAHAV, A doctor and battalion medical officer, did not want to serve in the Search and Rescue Brigade mixed-gender combat unit he was stationed in after completing his training.

While Yahav said that he wanted to be stationed with an elite combat unit, “when I look back, I don’t think I could be happier.”

On October 7, he and his team of male and female combat medics rushed south to provide medical care.

Arriving at a road that feeds into a number of bases in the South that were attacked by Hamas terrorists, the team starting handling a huge mass casualty event, without an ambulance to evacuate the wounded and without any backup.

Yahav noted how incredible it was to see his soldiers rising to the occasion before his eyes.

“That 40-something kg. [soldier], whose vest is 20 sizes too big on her – suddenly watching her sprint and tell everyone to get down as anti-tank missiles are being fired on us and picking up a stretcher with a 100-kg. [special unit soldier] on it, and stopping his bleeding and saving his life – it’s a different kind of experience,” he recounted.

In the chaos of the day, while trying to treat more soldiers and joined by a soldier driving an armored car he was not trained to drive, Yahav and his team drove on to the bases trying to evacuate more wounded soldiers.

“We see the smoke and drive straight for it,” he said.

He looked over at one of his medics and saw that she was shaking.

“I ask her, ‘Are you okay?’ She says, ‘I’m okay!’ and her hand is totally shaking.”

“They understood where they were going,” he said.

Medical coverage for everyone... except women?

In November, Yahav was sent into Gaza with his mixed-gender combat team. While his soldiers performed admirably regardless of gender, Yahav pointed to a way in which the IDF was not prepared to support its female soldiers.

While there are standard medical kits sent to combat units in war, much of what female soldiers may need is not included in these kits.

Many of his female soldiers had skipped the placebo pills in their birth control packs to avoid getting their period in Gaza, Yahav said, explaining that when they ran out of this birth control, the IDF was not prepared to replace it.

“Whoever thought of bringing birth control [pills] for female combat soldiers? Let me tell you, no one did.

“Did anyone ever think to bring medication for urinary tract infections? Let me tell you – they didn’t shower for two weeks, and they all had UTIs, and no one thought to bring them that medicine,” he said.

This isn’t an intentional decision, he explained, saying that the IDF was just not used to the idea of female combat soldiers participating in maneuvers and so was caught unprepared.

“We also discovered that female combat soldiers have different medical problems than male combat soldiers,” said Yahav, adding that the IDF is now conducting research on this, and over 100 female combat soldiers who served over the border have filled out their questionnaires.

None of these medical issues imply that women should not be fighting in these roles, Yahav said. “We just need to adjust our actions to handle it.”

Ofri also touched on some of the ways in which the fact that people are unused to female combat soldiers operating in wartime affected her, saying that donations of toiletries were always geared to men, leaving it to her parents to send her the things she needed in Gaza.

The Israel-Hamas war has provided ample opportunity for the IDF’s female combat soldiers to demonstrate their capability.

Now is the time for the IDF to make the proper adjustments to enable them to do their job to the best of their potential and to consider the lessons of the war when reviewing which positions should be open to women.