The IDF announced this morning (Thursday) that the female fighter who was seriously injured yesterday in a battle in southern Lebanon is Sergeant S., one of the veteran fighters in the IDF Spokesperson's Operational Documentation Division.
Sergeant S. was injured when an explosive-laden drone fell in southern Lebanon, and was evacuated by military helicopter directly to the hospital, alongside a combat officer who was moderately injured and two other combatants who were moderately injured.
After her serious injury, and as a special tribute to her work, the IDF published the operational footage that S. had managed to film and document right inside the battlefields in Lebanon.
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In the video and photo materials, she is seen skillfully using her two "weapons" - her rifle and her professional video camera.
Following the injury of Sergeant S., the IDF wishes to shed light on the activities of the IDF Spokesperson's Operational Documentation Division - a unique combat unit with exceptional characteristics.
The unit was established as a direct operational lesson after the fall of the IDF spokesman photographer, Sergeant Lior Ziv, who was killed during a complex operational activity in Rafah in 2003, and in light of the growing operational need for reliable and high-quality documentation directly from the combat zones for the purposes of spokespersonship, information, and the war on consciousness.
The fleet was first activated in its current form during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, and since then its fighters have been operating continuously in all of the State of Israel's combat sectors - in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, Judea and Samaria, and Syria, closely accompanying the infantry forces and special units.
The operational documentation soldiers operate as a companion force, directly attached to the forces storming the field. They do not observe from the sidelines, but fight shoulder to shoulder with the fighters they have joined, taking a fully active part in the fighting and assisting them in neutralizing threats.
The training of operational documentation fighters is completely combat-based and includes a long infantry training course at the 07th Rifle Company, a counterterrorism course at the Display and Warfare School, alongside a course in advanced tactical documentation and photography. The fleet currently has dozens of regular and reserve fighters.
