Pillar of Defense: The Naval Angle

Damage to Hamas headquarters, naval strikes and more - the Israeli Navy carried these since the start of Pillar of Defense. Former Navy Commander Maj. Gen. (Res.) David Ben Ba'ashat speaks of the advantages the Israeli Navy provides to the IDF in the Gaza Strip combat.

In parallel to the Israeli Air Force’s attacks during the day and night, Israeli Navy fighters also operate vis-à-vis the Gaza coasts, attacking terrorist targets in the Gaza Strip and firing from the sea. The navy actively participates in the combat from the naval arena, primarily via missile boats, and has already succeeded in destroying Hamas structures in Gaza City, taking out a Global Jihad terrorist involved in various terror attacks, damaging a generator and container near the house of Ismail Haniyeh and more.

Maj. Gen. (Res.) David Ben Ba’ashat, former Israeli Navy commander, says that all the fire components in the Israeli navy have surgical fire and armed launch capabilities that can greatly assist in such an operation. “Navy forces and missile boats are all integrated in such activity,” says Ben Ba’ashat. “There are Navy representatives at the IDF’s fire centers, and they provide their input on every target received, whether if from a bank of targets or from those created in real-time from reports from the field, and how the Navy can contribute towards hitting that target.

“There are plenty of targets along the coastal line and on the ground for which the navy can be very effective in foiling. The Palestinian naval police infrastructure, governmental and defense offices, rocket launchers operating along the coast and more. In the event of the very precise hit of the generator and container near Ismail Haniyeh's house, there were also additional blasts that indicated that additional armaments was nearby.

“The other advantage of the navy in such activity is the fact that Israeli navy vessels create a fire barrier along Gaza’s coastal line, which adds another dimension of psychological pressure – Hamas and the various terrorist organizations understand that they are blocked, that the sea is a closed border like their other borders and cannot be an escape route or a means of smuggling ammunition. This is especially so should ground forces enter the Strip, and there’s no doubt that the navy is preparing accordingly, should such a measure be decided upon.”

Ben Ba’ashat also notes the cooperation and synergy between the IDF’s various branches. “Both Maj. Gen. Ram Rottenberg, the current navy commander, and Col. Dror Friedman, commander of the Ashdod arena - which is responsible for fighting in Gaza – were Shayetet 13 commanders. In that framework they both also served quite a few days with ground forces,  have personal familiarity with the commanders in the arena and maintain close cooperation with them.”