Army struggled to respond as Hamas gained control of Mopdarom base on Oct. 7 — probe

At least 35 Hamas terrorists managed to overrun the IDF’s Mopdarom base south of Nir Oz on October 7, 2023, seizing operational control for several hours, an internal military investigation published Tuesday has found.

The probe by the Israel Defense Forces concluded that though military’s response was not swift, the determination and heroism of individual soldiers and commanders ultimately prevented a greater loss of life.

Four Israeli soldiers were killed in the battle, and approximately 17 others were wounded. Ten terrorists were eliminated inside the base during the intense firefight.

“The enemy obtained operational control of the Mopdarom base for several hours,” the nearly 10-month probe determined. “The enemy attack… pinned down the company-level force and neutralized the combat formation at Mopdarom until at least 10:00 a.m.”

The report stressed, however, that “the heroic decisions and actions of both soldiers and commanders — despite their injuries, carried out with courage and a will to engage — contributed to saving many lives.”

The investigation, led by Lt. Col. Nof Brown and approved by former Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, was based on dozens of interviews with soldiers, radio transcripts, surveillance footage, drone imagery and classified intelligence. It focused on the hours-long battle inside one of the key IDF facilities targeted during Hamas’s surprise attack.

According to the IDF, while the terrorists succeeded in entering and controlling large parts of the base — which is next to an agricultural research and development center some 3.5 kilometers (two miles) from the Gaza border — for several hours, they were ultimately repelled by wounded soldiers and a handful of reinforcements who arrived later in the day.

Timeline of the attack

The assault on the Mopdarom base began at 6:29 a.m., as Hamas launched its coordinated rocket barrage across southern Israel. Within minutes, IDF surveillance units reported infiltrations by more than 100 armed terrorists across ten separate locations near the base.

By 6:47 a.m., some 35 Hamas gunmen had breached Mopdarom’s perimeter through gaps in its main  and armored vehicle gates. The terrorists quickly targeted the dining hall, where most of Company “Gimel” from the Golani Brigade’s 51st Battalion had taken cover after hearing the incoming rocket sirens. The Hamas force encountered an approximately equal-sized IDF presence, as some 34 armed soldiers were in the camp at the time.

According to the investigation, soldiers stationed at guard posts abandoned their positions and moved to protected areas once the sirens sounded, contrary to protocol. Investigators clarified that at that point, the soldiers were not yet aware that a ground infiltration by terrorists into Israel was underway.

At 7:00 a.m., terrorists opened fire on the dining hall using small arms, grenades, machine guns and shoulder-launched rockets, hoping to massacre the soldiers inside. However, due to a split-second decision by two commanders, Capt. Shilo Rauchberger and the head of a platoon, to establish defensive positions at the entrances, the attackers were prevented from storming the hall. Their orders are credited with saving dozens of lives.

The fighting inside the base continued for nearly three hours, with soldiers fending off infiltration attempts from within shelters and the command room. Even as they sustained injuries, many troops refused to evacuate or retreat.

Rauchberger was severely injured during the battle, but he continued to fight before eventually succumbing to his wounds.

At around 7:30 a.m., Sgt. Amichay Rubin was mortally wounded while physically blocking terrorists from entering the dining hall. Around the same time, Staff Sgt. Shlomo Reshetnikov, an IDF volunteer who had immigrated to Israel, was also killed by gunfire at the dining hall’s front entrance.

Staff Sgt. Dvir Chaim Rossler was killed by an explosive at 8:15 while holding the door of a southern shelter closed with his body, preventing terrorists from entering and saving the lives of two other soldiers with him.

At 9:00 a.m., a small group of five soldiers in a patrol vehicle began evacuating trapped soldiers from the base’s northern shelter. The southern shelter — whose locking mechanism had been damaged by the blast that killed Rossler — was only accessed late that evening using a special breaching kit.

More than three hours later, an officer-in-training from the IDF Tactical Command College, who had arrived on his own initiative, took command of forces inside the base. He organized security perimeters, positioned machine gunners, and began coordinating the evacuation of wounded soldiers.

Between 10:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., sporadic gunfire continued around the perimeter. As medics from the Israeli Air Force’s elite search and rescue Unit 669 began arriving by helicopter to extract the wounded, they came under fire from ambushes set by retreating terrorists near the base’s access roads.

At 2:03 p.m., a team led by the officer cadet flanked and killed three terrorists at close range. Simultaneously, troops positioned near the base’s armored vehicle parking lot opened fire on additional assailants, killing four more.

By 2:15 p.m., IDF helicopter crews halted their aerial strikes after confirming the location of friendly forces, allowing the ground commander to reenter the base and stabilize the situation.

Poor planning, communications breakdown and ‘great bravery’

Despite Mopdarom’s strategic importance, the IDF probe found that no effective defensive plan was implemented ahead of the assault. Troops failed to follow protocol, guard posts were abandoned after the rocket sirens and reinforcements were unable to arrive in time to prevent the infiltration.

Another key finding was a critical breakdown in communication between foot soldiers and the base’s command room, resulting in the absence of an early warning or real-time situational assessment during the initial stages of the attack.

Still, the report praised the conduct of many on the ground.

“The fighting spirit and bravery of the soldiers at the Mopdarom base disrupted the enemy’s assault and significantly reduced the number of casualties within the base,” the investigation said. “IDF commanders and soldiers acted with great bravery and courage, risking their lives.”

The officer cadet who arrived independently and took command was singled out for praise. His efforts “enabled the continued functioning of the forces at the base.”

Air Force and Unit 669 personnel were also commended for operating under extreme conditions to evacuate the wounded under fire.