Magellan Unit, one of the elite units in Israeli armyThe applicants are subject to accurate and harsh tests, and its members are selected with great difficulty. Its role in destroying the important goals in the battlefield, collecting information and saving the hostages, and carrying out “enemy lines” operations.
The unit suffered from severe strikes in a battle Al -Aqsa Flood And the followers of the Israeli war on Gaza StripThe most prominent of which was on June 6, 2025, as 4 of its soldiers were killed and others were wounded, after they infiltrated the town of Bani Suhaila, east of a city Khan YunisAnd they stormed a house in which the Palestinian resistance planted an explosive device, which exploded.
Name and logo
The Magellan Unit is among the most organized and equipped Israeli army units, and this name was called after a kind of migratory birds, called in the Hebrew language “Al -Majlan”.
It is one of the rare birds in IsraelAnd adapt to all environments and take it as a home to him, as well as his ability to camouflage and get food without fear, even with a danger near him.
Al -Wahda believes that the lives of its members must be very similar to the life of the “Maglan” bird, and the affiliates put the image of the bird a slogan on their clothes.
The unit takes a slogan with the phrase: “Quietly and safely, you will be your heroism.”
Foundation
The Magellan Unit – also called unit 212 – that follows the Israeli Army Commando Brigade in June 1986, was established against the backdrop of recommendations for military studies that dealt with lessons from October WarOctober 1973, And the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
At the beginning of its founding, she specialized in “anti -tank war”, and later in “carrying out secret operations using the most advanced weapons”, the affiliates were accurately selected from all the army brigades, and were raised to all the arts of fighting.
The unit was included in its beginning in the formation of the “David League” band, and after 3 years it was transferred to the 98th (Form of Fire), and in December 2015 it was attached to the 89th (Oz) division.
Goals
The basic task of the unit is concentrated in carrying out special secret operations, especially in the war period, and there are many goals and other tasks, the most prominent of which are:
- Destroy important goals in the battlefield.
- Collecting accurate information about opponents in the battlefield using special and advanced weapons.
- Save Israeli hostages.
- Implementing complex and accurate operations “behind enemy lines”, especially in populated areas.
- Confronting “terrorist acts”.
Training and recruitment
The unit includes many sections, the most prominent of which is the Department of Development Development, whose role is to “find creative solutions and technological innovations in line with operational needs and secret activities of the unit.”
The leadership of the unit was linked to many prominent Israeli military figures, among them the former leader The Lullio Mercury In the Israeli army Danny Hermann, as well as the former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.
The members of the unit are selected according to special criteria, as they are subject to medical examinations and high -level fitness tests, and they are trained in various martial arts at the Parachute Brigade Training Center for a period that lasts for about 16 months.
The unit affiliated with the use of various types of weapons, including mortars and guided missiles, and are undergoing a training course for parachute and common special training with the “Commando” brigade And the unit of Dovevan AndIguz unitAnd the band members work in various specialties and are subject to intense training in navigation and camouflage that lasts for weeks.
Operations and failures
The unit carried out secret operations in Lebanon Starting in 1989, the most prominent was the assassination of leaders in Lebanese HezbollahAnd Palestinian factions.
The unit participated in the process of “clusters of anger”, which was launched by the Israeli occupation on Lebanon between 11 and 27 April 1996, during which it was carried out Qana’s first massacre In which dozens of Lebanese were martyred and hundreds were wounded.
At that time, the unit members were subjected to firing mortar shells, which prompted the Israeli army to intervene to save them, so he fired artillery shells, some of which fell into a affiliated camp For the United Nations He houses Lebanese refugees, killing about 100 Lebanese and 4 workers in the UN organization.
In July 2006, two members of the unit were killed in a Hezbollah attack on an Israeli army patrol on the border, and that attack led to the outbreak of a 33 -day war, and witnessed Southern Lebanon In the two, most of the battles in which the unit participated strongly, and thanks to that, it got a decoration from the Commander of the Central Region in the Israeli army.
Al -Wahda fighters also participated in the Israeli aggression on Lebanon in 2024, carried out special operations, and sought to collect intelligence information on Hezbollah, especially in Southern suburb The libet.
- West Bank
The unit carried out secret operations in cities West BankEspecially during Al -Aqsa uprising (The Second Palestinian Intifada), whose spark erupted on September 28, 2000 after the storming of the Israeli opposition leader at the time. Ariel Sharon Spin Al -Aqsa Mosque.
On March 19, 2002, the unit was subjected to a shooting operation carried out by Palestinian resistance fighters in the Hammam Al -Maleh area, east of the city of Tubas, in the occupied West Bank, killing the commander of its affiliated force and wounding a number of soldiers working in it.
In July 2023, the Magellan unit carried out a special operation in the camp fetal (North of the occupied West Bank) launched it Israel The name “House and Garden”. The unit members attacked the camp and destroyed ammunition warehouses for the Palestinian resistance.
In February 2025, the unit participated in an operation called Israel, the “Iron Wall”, and targeted the cities of the northern West Bank and its camps, with the aim of eliminating the armed resistance.
Al -Wahda fighters participated in all Wars and military operations launched by Israel against the Gaza Strip. And in the 2014 war (The steadfast cliff3 of its soldiers were killed after the Palestinian resistance blew them a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip, and the unit obtained the Order of the Chief of Staff for its activity in that war.
In 2011, the unit was assigned to secure the return of the soldier Gilad Shalit To Israel after the Islamic Resistance Movement was released (agitation) Under an exchange deal called “Wafa Al -Ahrar”.
The unit was subjected to a major blow to the Al -Aqsa Flood operation, which was launched by the Palestinian resistance on settlements Gaza cover On October 7, 2023, he killed and killed many of its members, including the Special Operations Officer, in which Lieutenant Yaftah Yavits.
During the aggression launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip after the Battle of the Flood of Al -Aqsa, the Magellan unit committees committed many of the exception of civilians in Gaza, especially while they were participating in the land battle, which led to the killing and wounding of dozens of its members in battles with the resistance.
The unit suffered a strong strike on June 6, 2025, as 4 of its soldiers were killed in ambush It was carried out by the Palestinian resistance in the town of Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, while they were participating in the implementation of what the Israeli army said was an attack targeting buildings and infrastructure of Hamas.
According to the Israeli investigation, minutes after the force entered the eastern Khan Yunis building, an explosive device exploded, which led to its collapse.
The Israeli army carried out a evacuation of the unit elements, which took a long time, and it took place under a thick fiery cover of the air and artillery weapons.
He described the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu What happened is a “very difficult day”, while the Israeli president said Isaac Herzog “The price of war is very expensive, and this is an hour of sadness, but it is also a moment of deep commitment to stand behind our soldiers.”
Source: Al Jazeera + Agencies + Israeli press