Unit 669

An IDF helicopter assists in recovering the body of US tourist who apparently slipped and fell to his death in a ravine in the Eilat mountains area, March 10, 2019. (Israel Police)

March 10, 2019, 4:19 pm

American hiker falls to death in Eilat Mountains

Body of 20-year-old recovered by IDF; family notified

By TOI staff

Unit 669 simulates a rescue operation, January, 2010 (Ofer Zidon/Flash90)

January 31, 2019, 7:58 pm

Veterans of IDF search and rescue unit take battle of saving lives to the street

Alum of Israel’s elite Unit 669 unit heed the call to serve and train civilians around the world to take practical, immediate steps in emergency situations

By Emily Benedek

Elite search-and-rescue troops from six countries train in Israel as part of the 'Sky Angels' exercise in November 2018. (Israel Defense Forces)

November 20, 2018, 3:33 pm

‘Sky Angels’: Elite search-and-rescue teams from six countries train in Israel

IDF hosts its largest-ever exercise for heliborne crews, practicing war-time extractions under fire, civilian car-wrecks in difficult terrain

By Judah Ari Gross

Route 90 along the Dead Sea, September 30, 2014. )Hadas Parush/Flash90)

November 12, 2018, 1:06 am

Transportation minister orders expansion of key highway after fatal crashes

Backtracking on previous refusal to upgrade deadly road, Israel Katz says project part of ‘strategic national vision’ to improve national road network

By Raoul Wootliff

A military helicopter holding a 669 Search & Rescue crewman and a stranded hiker over a flooded riverbed in southern Israel, November 9, 2018 (Courtesy IDF)

November 10, 2018, 7:10 pm

Military choppers called in to rescue group stranded by floods in Israeli south

Nature and Parks Authority says it has responded to 11 incidents of hikers caught in high waters over the weekend

By TOI staff

People stand on Route 90 near the Kidron River where part of the highway collapsed due to heavy flooding on November 9, 2018. (screen capture: Israel Police)

November 9, 2018, 8:06 pm

Flash flooding collapses part of Route 90 near Dead Sea

Police say other parts of the major north-south highway at risk due to heavy rains; IDF search-and-rescue team airlifts four stranded hikers to safety

By TOI staff

Illustrative: Jordanian rescuers with sniffer dogs search for survivors of flash floods at the Dead Sea area, Jordan, on October 26, 2018. (AP Photo/Omar Akour)

October 26, 2018, 1:35 pm

Death toll rises to 20 in Jordan school trip flooding tragedy

As Israeli rescuers return home, general sends condolences to families of victims and notes similarity to Dead Sea flash flood in April that killed 10 students

By Agencies and TOI staff

A general view shows the location of the accident where people were killed in a flash flood near the Dead Sea, Jordan, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2018. (AP/Raad Adayleh)

October 25, 2018, 8:31 pm

18 die as school trip swept away in Jordan flooding; Israel joins rescue effort

Another 35 injured after sudden rains wash away children and schoolteachers visiting hot springs near the Dead Sea

By Judah Ari Gross and Agencies

Police stand outside the Bnei Zion pre-army academy in Tel Aviv, from which 10 incoming students were killed in a flash flood in the Judean Desert, on April 26, 2018. (Miriam Alster/ Flash90)

April 26, 2018, 11:18 pm

Police launch probe after 10 high school students die in flash flood

Defense, education ministries spar over culpability; pre-army program ignored weather warnings and took teens on deadly Judean Desert hike

By Judah Ari Gross and TOI staff

Members of the elite Egoz unit take part in an exercise in Cyprus in June 2017. (IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

June 15, 2017, 6:37 pm

500 Israeli soldiers fight mock war in Cyprus mountains

Commandos hold unprecedented unit-wide exercise overseas, with air support; 100 Cypriot soldiers participate; Turks, Cypriot opposition fume

By Judah Ari Gross

Illustrative photo of a minefield in northern Israel (photo credit: Yossi Zamir/Flash90)

March 12, 2017, 5:16 pm

Food foragers stumble into minefield, decline army rescue

2 residents of Druze village on Golan Heights tell police they entered fenced area in search of edible plants

By TOI staff

Rescue personnel at the scene of an accident in Nahal Tze'elim in the Negev on December 9, 2016, in which a university lecturer died trying to save his son as he fell from a cliff. (Arad Rescue Team via Channel 10)

December 9, 2016, 4:23 pm

Man dies in plunge off cliff in Negev when trying to save son

Father named as university lecturer Omri Nir, who jumped after 10-year-old when he slipped during climb; child in serious condition

By TOI staff

Soldiers evacuate a wounded comrade during the Second Lebanon War, on July 24, 2006 (Haim Azoulay/ Flash 90/ File)

July 12, 2016, 4:54 pm

10 years on, finding heroics in the horrors of the Second Lebanon War

It was ‘hell on earth.’ It was ‘about fight or flight.’ Three soldiers who earned citations for life-saving actions describe trials by fire in the bitter war that erupted a decade ago

By Judah Ari Gross

Illustrative photo of floods in the Dead Sea area during a stormy winter day (photo credit: Flash90)

November 26, 2014, 11:40 pm

Stranded hikers rescued from Judean Desert flood

Police, IDF emergency response units spend hours scrambling to save backpackers from flash flood in Nahal Og

By TOI staff

Heavy rain caused severe flooding in the town of Bat Hefer, east of Netanya, on Tuesday (photo credit: Gili Yaari/Flash90)

January 8, 2013, 9:37 pm

Navy enters Hadera to rescue stranded residents

Power returns to most homes in coastal city after electrical sub-station flooded overnight; snow falls in northern and central Israel

By Greg Tepper