98th Paratroopers Division

The Fire Formation combines airborne and commando capabilities with forces attached for particular missions, including tanks and combat engineers.[3][7] Its training has included transporting a combat division rapidly behind enemy lines, while its Gaza operations have emphasized coordinated action against surface positions and underground networks.[7][5]

The division belongs organizationally to Central Command, although its wartime assignments have placed it under Southern Command in Gaza and Northern Command on the Lebanese front.[8][9] The Paratroopers Brigade, numbered the 35th Brigade, is subordinate to the division, which is classified as a reserve-service infantry division despite also containing active-duty brigades.[1][8]

The history of the division’s subordinate Paratroopers Brigade reaches back to the first IDF paratroopers unit, established in September 1948 under Yoel Palgi.[1] That unit was disbanded on May 24, 1949, and subsequently re-established under Yehuda Harari; a parachute school was established at Tel Nof and an 890-soldier battalion was formed.[1] These dates concern the paratroopers’ institutional background rather than the founding of the 98th Division itself.[1]

During Operation Peace for Galilee in 1982, the formation—then designated the 96th Division—was assigned an amphibious landing at the mouth of Lebanon’s Awali River.[5] Commanded by Brigadier General Amos Yaron, it included a main paratrooper force under Yoram Yair, reinforced by engineering, artillery and armor.[5][10] The June 6 landing was intended to enable a rapid advance toward Beirut and sever the connection between PLO headquarters there and forces farther south.[5][10] Yair subsequently chose a route through the Chouf mountains, and the paratroopers advanced approximately 70 kilometers toward Beirut.[5]

In December 2015, the newly established Commando Brigade, also called Brigade Oz, was placed under the 98th Division in Central Command.[11] Created under Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, it consolidated Maglan, Duvdevan, Egoz and Rimon, which had previously been dispersed across different formations; Maglan had already belonged to Division 98.[2] The consolidation was intended to reduce redundancies and strengthen the specialized units.[11] At the inauguration near Ein Harod, division commander Uri Gordin connected the ceremony’s location to the biblical account of Gideon.[11]

Ofer Winter assumed command in August 2020 and completed his divisional command in September 2022.[12] Dan Goldfus took command that September and led the division during its subsequent Khan Yunis campaign.[13]

The division’s organizational structure includes two active-duty organic brigades—the Paratroopers Brigade and Commando Brigade—and five reserve brigades.[8] A March 2024 description identified reserve paratrooper brigades 551 and 55, Fire Brigade 214 and additional units alongside the two active-duty brigades.[13] Earlier descriptions, including one from 2019, listed the Paratroopers and Commando brigades together with two reserve brigades.[14]

Its operational groupings have differed from its permanent organization.[13] During the Khan Yunis fighting, attached formations included Givati, the 7th Armored Brigade, the Bislach brigade and teams from special units, operating alongside most of the Commando Brigade and other divisional forces.[13] The 7th Armored Brigade also supplied tank support during the division’s rapid July 2024 operation in Khan Yunis.[3]

A divisional exercise in Cyprus rehearsed transporting a combat division quickly behind enemy lines by air assault.[7] Training covered airborne missions, navigation in unfamiliar terrain and operating under pressure at a considerable distance from home.[7]

In 2020, the division included the Ghost Unit, a multidisciplinary formation created under the Momentum Plan to develop and test combat methods.[15] Its first major exercise brought together infantry, tanks, combat engineers, K-9 teams, drones, robotics, fighter aircraft and helicopters.[15] One tested method allowed ground troops to direct a fighter jet against a target using live fire, integrating ground maneuver with air power, intelligence and telecommunications.[15]

On October 7, 2023, soldiers of the division fought Nukhba terrorists attacking Israeli communities and military bases near Gaza.[5] Goldfus went to the Nova music festival area near Re’im and fought alongside approximately six other soldiers and officers while mobilizing his division southward.[13] He later fought at Kfar Aza, Nahal Oz and other communities before the division moved into training and subsequently into Khan Yunis.[13]

In November 2023, the division received the assignment to capture Khan Yunis.[16] Its seven subordinate brigades were ordered to advance rapidly toward the city center rather than work inward from the outskirts, aiming to surprise Hamas, block escape routes and secure tunnel entrances.[16] The main campaign lasted from early December 2023 until early April 2024.[5]

The division entered the campaign with significant gaps in its intelligence about the underground network.[16] Troops encountered extensively interconnected tunnels approximately 15 meters deep, rather than the anticipated 60–70 meters.[16] Combat combined surface maneuver with underground operations by special forces, commandos and divisional combat teams.[17]

January reporting, relaying IDF statements, described raids on hundreds of locations, including Hamas posts, a battalion headquarters, training compounds, a command center, an intelligence building, a rocket-manufacturing facility and senior officials’ offices.[18] The IDF reported the discovery and destruction of hundreds of tunnel shafts.[18] One underground route beneath a cemetery contained explosives, sliding doors and blast-proof doors; other described facilities included an operations room, a command-and-control center and living quarters.[17]

A retrospective account described Hamas leaders moving through connected tunnels, with some sections collapsed behind them during the pursuit.[16] Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Rafa’a Salameh reportedly escaped one complex during a gap between the departure of an Israeli ground force and the arrival of Goldfus’s underground team; forensic evidence and surveillance footage were subsequently said to establish their presence.[16] Recalling a meal left behind, Goldfus said: “The coffee was still hot.”[16]

The division withdrew from Khan Yunis in early April after months of fighting.[19] The Commando, Paratroopers, Givati and 7th Armored brigades were among the formations that had operated there, and the withdrawal was followed by a stated intention to continue intelligence-based raids.[19]

Approximately a month after leaving Khan Yunis, the division deployed to Jabalya with the 7th and 460th Armored brigades, paratroopers and other units.[4] Its operations again addressed positions above and below ground, and the bodies of four hostages had been recovered by the time of the contemporary account.[4]

Division forces also contributed to the June 2024 Nuseirat operation that rescued four hostages.[20] The source identified the 7th and Kfir brigade combat teams and Yahalom personnel as part of the broader divisional operation, while Yamam and Shin Bet forces extracted the hostages.[20] Yamam officer Arnon Zamora was killed, and the operation was named in his memory.[20]

In July, the Paratroopers Brigade, 7th Brigade and Yahalom Unit fought under the division in Shejaiya for more than a week.[21] The IDF reported six destroyed tunnels extending approximately six kilometers and more than 150 terrorists killed, alongside weapons and intelligence documents recovered and booby-trapped buildings and explosives destroyed.[21]

A separate Khan Yunis raid began on July 22, following calls for civilians to evacuate several western neighborhoods where rocket launches and hostile force deployments had been reported.[3] The seven-day operation recovered the bodies of five hostages.[3] The IDF reported more than 150 terrorists killed and the dismantling of tunnels, weapons stores and other infrastructure.[3]

In August, an operation under the division’s command recovered six hostages’ bodies from an underground tunnel in Khan Yunis.[22] Participating forces included the Paratroopers Brigade, Yahalom, the 75th Battalion and Israel Security Agency personnel.[22] The tunnel shaft was approximately 10 meters deep, and the operation drew on intelligence from the security agency, military intelligence units and the Intelligence Directorate’s Hostage Headquarters.[22]

In September 2024, the division moved from Gaza to northern Israel under Northern Command, with the Paratroopers, Commando and 7th Armored brigades forming the deployed grouping.[23] The transfer accompanied a shift in military focus toward Hezbollah after returning northern residents to their homes was added to the government’s stated war objectives.[24]

On September 30, the division led the first official Israeli ground operations in Lebanon.[6] During the first week, the IDF reported more than 200 Hezbollah terrorists killed, tunnels demolished, hundreds of weapons located and more than 100 tons of explosives used against sites above and below ground.[6] Six Egoz members and three paratroopers were killed in separate incidents.[6]

The operations targeted Hezbollah strongholds near the Israeli border and involved the Paratroopers, Commando and 7th brigades together with Yahalom.[25] Their tasks included dismantling tunnel routes, infrastructure and combat compounds and locating weapons.[25]

Over a three-month period, the division operated in Kfarkela, Al-Aadaissah, Rab El Thalathine, Markaba, Taybeh and Khiam.[26] In the Khiam area, the IDF reported the destruction of more than 300 infrastructure sites.[26] Following the ceasefire that began on November 27, troops continued searching for weapons and infrastructure and working to prevent Hezbollah from regrouping under the ceasefire understandings.[26][27]

By May 2025, the division had operated in Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — before returning to Khan Yunis for Operation Gideon’s Chariots.[28] Its assigned tasks included establishing operational control and dismantling infrastructure above and below ground.[28] The IDF reported approximately 200 sites destroyed and hundreds of airstrikes coordinated by the division’s Fire Center with intelligence personnel and the Israeli Air Force.[28]

In July 2025, the division completed a northern Gaza mission after several months of operations in Khan Yunis, Shejaiya and Zeitoun.[29] The IDF reported more than 1,500 infrastructure sites dismantled and dozens of terrorists killed, including some identified as participants in the October 7 attacks.[29][30] That month, the division also began renewed activity in eastern Gaza City alongside the 162nd Division, with airstrikes coordinated through its Fire Control Center preceding the entry of Commando Brigade and 7th Brigade forces.[31]

In February 2026, engineering activity east of Gaza’s Yellow Line involved the Northern Brigade and Yahalom in locating and dismantling underground routes.[32] The IDF said approximately five kilometers of tunnels were dismantled in Beit Hanoun, with a weapons stockpile found inside one route.[32]

In September 2026, the division’s headquarters staff deployed to the West Bank and assumed authority over the Judea and Etzion Regional Brigade sectors.[33] The move was intended to reduce the workload of the Judea and Samaria Division headquarters amid concerns about possible attacks; it involved the 98th Division’s command staff, not all its troops.[33]

The division’s training and operations connect rapid maneuver with combined-arms coordination: airborne deployment exercises, experimental integration of aircraft and ground forces, and simultaneous surface and underground fighting all feature in its documented activities.[7][15] Goldfus’s description of a “720 degrees” war captured the additional underground dimension encountered in Gaza.[4]

Following the Khan Yunis campaign, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called the achievements of the division and its units “extremely impressive.”[34] He credited them with destroying weapons, warehouses, headquarters and communications centers, and assessed that their operations had dismantled Hamas as a functioning military unit in that area.[34] Hostage recovery was another substantial part of the division’s wartime activity, encompassing support for the Nuseirat rescue and operations recovering hostages’ bodies from Gaza.[20][22]

The tactic of clearing areas in Gaza and subsequently withdrawing drew criticism because it could permit Hamas to return.[4] Reported casualty figures, tunnel lengths and infrastructure-destruction totals largely derive from Israeli military statements rather than independent verification; Gallant’s assessment of Hamas’s military framework in Khan Yunis likewise represents a wartime assessment.[6][34]

The strategic significance of the 1982 advance has also received qualified assessments.[5] Military historian Saul Bronfeld distinguished the landing’s contribution to collapsing organized resistance south of the Awali from a strategic outflanking of Beirut, which he argued it did not achieve; he also emphasized that the brigade surrounded Beirut only after the ceasefire and reached the city following hard fighting in the valley.[5]