36th Division (Israel)

The 36th Division, also called Ga’ash (“Rage”), is an armored formation of the IDF. A 2011 guide described it as a Northern Command formation responsible for the Golan Heights area, with headquarters at Camp Yitzhak near Nafah. Its listed components included the 7th and 188th Armored Brigades, Golani, reserve and regional brigades, and the 282nd Artillery Formation; engineering units were attached to the armored brigades.[1] A 2022 account likewise listed Golani, reserve Etzioni Brigade (6), the 7th and 188th Armored Brigades, and Artillery Brigade 282 among units under its command.[2]

The division’s composition is not identical in every account. A May 2026 report described its usual components as Golani, the 7th and 188th Armored Brigades, and the 282nd Artillery Brigade, while wartime reporting has described attached combat engineers and other operational forces.[3][5] The Institute for National Security Studies identified the 36th among the IDF’s field divisions and among four divisions deployed in the northern Gaza ground invasion, alongside the 162nd, 252nd, and 99th.[6]

In reporting on the division’s modern operations, its artillery and strike coordination have been described as supporting maneuvering ground troops. The 282nd Fire Brigade was reported as coordinating strikes, while division strike cells combined information from sensors and intelligence sources to identify and assess targets, choose means of attack, and arrange fire support ahead of forces or on their flanks. An officer quoted in one account called the unit “a target destruction factory.”[4]

During the Six-Day War, Division 36 fought in the northern sector of the Jordanian front under Northern Command chief David Elazar and was commanded by Elad Peled. In Northern Samaria, its formations included Regiments 9, 37, and 45. The Israel Ministry of Defense Archives reports that Nablus and Jenin were occupied and that the IDF occupied the entire West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — on June 9.[7]

The Jewish Virtual Library identifies the 7th Armored Brigade as the IDF’s first armored brigade and says it participated in all of Israel’s wars. It also says the 188th Armored Brigade, another recurring component of the division, participated in Israel’s wars from the Six-Day War onward. The 188th was the first line of defense in the Southern Golan during the opening days of the Yom Kippur War, when almost all of its officers were killed in action, and was the last armored brigade to use Centurion tanks before converting to Merkava-3 tanks in 1992.[8] A Jerusalem Post report characterized the division’s role in the 1973 fighting as stopping the Syrian advance on the Golan Heights and compared that deployment with its later operations in Gaza.[9]

During Operation Litani in 1978, infantry brigades from the 36th Division crossed into Lebanon on the night of March 14, alongside the headquarters of the Chief of Infantry and Paratroopers Corps; armored and smaller operational units joined later. The cited account dates the operation from March 14 to June 13 and reports that about 25,000 soldiers entered southern Lebanon overall. It says the plan was devised by Chief of Staff Motta Gur and Northern Region Command commander Avigdor “Yenosh” Ben Gal, initially envisaged occupying territory extending about six miles, and was expanded toward the Litani River on March 17. Coordination with the South Lebanon Army was also described as one of the operation’s aims.[10]

In a 2019 exercise, conscripts and reservists from all levels of the division trained for two weeks in northern Israel, including for combat scenarios in complex and urban areas.[11] Records at the National Library of Israel also document educational work associated with the division: its education branch developed the pocket guide “Outpost 105,” a 22-page booklet with a color map, and a separate illustrated guide to Kele Camp, catalogued as a 23-page pocket guide.[12][13]

The division’s strike-cell coordination was described as developing from lessons in earlier conflicts. An account traced the current IDF concept to Operation Protective Edge, building on prior coordination among artillery, air force, and ground forces. It also said the need for a fire-operations center became clear after the 2006 Lebanon War, when the IDF had difficulty coordinating units.[4]

After its Gaza deployment, the division conducted a training program in northern Israel in March 2024 with battalion and brigade commanders. The program included professional instruction and study of lessons from Gaza, with adjustments for the challenges of the northern arena.[14] In October 2024, reporting said the division had prepared with reserve forces for a possible conflict in the north, reflecting its shift from Gaza operations to the Lebanon front.[15]

A 2004 commentary by Brig. Gen. Gershon HaCohen identified him as commander of the Ga’ash Formation, but did not explicitly establish that the formation was the 36th Division. HaCohen said regular units under his command spent less time training than five or ten years earlier because of daily missions in Gaza and Judea and Samaria, while battalion exercises nevertheless achieved results comparable to those of longer training periods. He also argued that frequent operational engagements gave soldiers a sense of relevance and success and fostered esprit de corps. These were his observations, based on a presentation he gave on April 29, 2004, rather than verified findings about the division as a whole.[16]

The division took part in the ground campaign in Gaza that began in late October 2023. Its reported mission included helping encircle Gaza City, cutting it off from southern Gaza, and striking selected targets. In November, the IDF said the division’s forces had reached the coastline; a report on the military’s claims said it had struck about 1,600 targets and killed more than 300 Hamas operatives. These figures were reported as wartime claims, not as independent assessments.[5]

One account described the 36th and 162nd Divisions as moving toward Gaza City from the south and north, respectively, like pincers. The 36th operated south of the city and helped reach the coast, while the 162nd approached from the north.[17] A separate account described the two divisions as leading the first phase of the northern Gaza ground maneuver, dated October 27 to November 24. It reported fighting involving tanks and armored personnel carriers in Shejaia, Shati, and Jabalya, and said that 12 Hamas battalions had been defeated by the time northern Gaza was mostly taken.[14]

The division’s forces fought in Gaza City neighborhoods including Zeitoun, Shati, Shejaia, and Rimal, and later in central Gaza. Reporting on Zeitoun described Golani and 188th Armored Brigade battle teams encountering close combat and ambushes. The account said brigade forces took objectives including the Gaza Brigade commander’s office and a battalion headquarters, and reported finding weapons, explosives, a rocket-production laboratory, a tunnel shaft, and unmanned aircraft in a mosque.[18] In Shejaia, a report described infantry and armored forces clearing the area against prepared positions, traps, and attacks emerging from buildings; it also described artillery firing at buildings during the operation.[9]

In January 2024, the division withdrew from Gaza after about 80 days of operations. Reports said it had entered after the 162nd Division, breached the Netzarim corridor, fought in Gaza City neighborhoods and central Gaza, and operated in the Nuseirat and al-Bureij camps during the final weeks before its withdrawal. The IDF described the move as a break for readiness-building, rest, and training, with later deployments to be determined by the situation.[19][20] In mid-January, other elements moved north while the 7th Armored Brigade remained in Khan Yunis, according to a subsequent report.[21]

The division later returned to Gaza operations. In April 2025, the 7th Armored Brigade was reported in northern Gaza, while Golani, the 188th Armored Brigade, and the 282nd Artillery Regiment worked to establish the Morag Corridor between Rafah and Khan Younis. The account said Golani advanced from the east and the 188th from the west, linking up after a week to consolidate a corridor reported as 12 kilometers long and, in places, 2 kilometers wide.[22] In June 2025, a report described the division operating near Khan Yunis with the stated aim of destroying terrorist infrastructure and defeating the local Hamas brigade, and said troops engaged terrorists directly and with air support.[23]

In October 2024, the 36th Division joined Israeli ground operations in southern Lebanon. Reported elements included Golani, the 188th Armored Brigade, reserve Etzioni Brigade, and the 282nd Artillery Brigade, whose fire and air support were described as assisting ground forces.[24] The division and reserve units had reportedly spent nine months training for a possible northern conflict.[15]

In November, the IDF said the division had raided more than 150 Hezbollah sites and killed dozens of operatives in southern Lebanon. The reported force included Golani, the 188th Armored Brigade, the 282nd Artillery Regiment, and the Yahalom combat engineering unit. The military said troops found weapons, rocket launchers, bunkers, and fighting positions it considered threats to northern Israel; these operational claims were attributed to the military.[25]

A 2025 report described the division as having fought in the Maroun a Ras area.[22] In June 2026, Ynetnews reported that it had completed what it called full operational control of Beaufort Ridge after a maneuver using a concealed route through terrain described as previously considered impassable. Officials quoted in the report said the division had prepared crossings of the Litani River and Saluki stream. The account said Givati forces captured the ridge before Golani captured Beaufort, and attributed to officials a claim that about 20 Hezbollah operatives were killed during an operation against an underground network.[26]

The 36th Division’s significance lies in its use as a regular armored formation that can shift between fronts. INSS listed it among the IDF’s field divisions and among four divisions deployed in northern Gaza.[6] Reporting later documented its return to northern Israel and subsequent operations in Lebanon.[3][21] Its recurring combination of infantry, armor, artillery, engineering, and strike coordination reflects a combined-arms model intended to support maneuvering forces.[1][4]

Accounts of the division’s Gaza and Lebanon operations include Israeli military claims about targets struck, armed operatives killed, infrastructure found, and areas brought under control. Such figures and characterizations are reported here as attributed wartime accounts rather than independent assessments.[5][25] A notable contested claim concerned the Israeli allegation that Hamas maintained a command center beneath Shifa Hospital, discussed in reporting on the division’s operations around the hospital.[17]

The available accounts also vary in how they describe the division’s components, partly because some list its usual organization while others describe forces attached for a particular operation. The name Ga’ash is explicitly associated with the 36th Division in multiple organizational and historical accounts.[1][8] A 2004 commentary identifies a Ga’ash Formation but does not itself state that it was the 36th Division.[16]