Edited by: Fern Sidman

On October 7, 2023, forty U.S. Army soldiers stationed in Israel as part of an advance team for what was expected to be a routine training exercise found themselves abruptly thrust into the heart of a war. The attack by Hamas that ignited a full-scale conflict caught these soldiers unarmed and far from safety. While they were initially prepared for a typical military operation, what transpired over the next 40 hours became a desperate fight for survival. This harrowing ordeal, kept under wraps until now, highlights both the vulnerability and resilience of U.S. forces caught in foreign conflicts. Thanks to exclusive reporting by RedState.com, these details are finally being brought to light.

When the Hamas assault began, approximately a quarter of the U.S. team was located just miles from the Gaza Strip, residing in off-base housing near the Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) Tze’elim base. With the situation rapidly deteriorating and Hamas terrorists advancing toward the base, the soldiers’ lives were in imminent danger. According to one military intelligence analyst with direct knowledge of the mission, it was local Israeli civilians, IDF reservists, and police officers who played a critical role in saving the lives of the unarmed Americans by escorting them to the safety of the IDF base. RedState.com reported that despite the gravity of the situation, requests by the U.S. team leader to unlock the soldiers’ firearms were flatly denied by officials at U.S. Central Command and ignored by higher-ups, leaving the soldiers defenseless as the threat from Hamas intensified.

IDF Urban Warfare Training Center
at Zeelim Army Base 🇮🇱

“Visiting American troops and forces from European allies — most recently Cypriot soldiers — have also trained in Mini Gaza.”https://t.co/AiHHordKgB pic.twitter.com/S6f93gdQqu

— Rod Sales 🏹 ✡︎🎗️ (@sanhedrin72a4) June 23, 2022

Meanwhile, the remainder of the U.S. soldiers were based in Tel Aviv when the attack began, where they found themselves under threat as Hamas rockets began to strike near their hotels. In the chaos that followed, it became increasingly clear that the Pentagon was unprepared to act swiftly, leaving these American troops to face a terrifying reality. As noted by the RedState.com report, a military intelligence source criticized the lack of urgency from the Pentagon, stating: “For a good six, eight hours those [soldiers who were at Tze’elim] were in very mortal danger, and the military and civilian leadership [at the Pentagon] was perfectly willing to not even worry about it.”

As the situation became more dire, discussions at high levels within the U.S. military finally led to action. Nearly 40 hours after the initial Hamas attack, a U.S. Air Force C-17 was dispatched to Tel Aviv to evacuate the soldiers. The extraction was fraught with danger—  the report on RedState.com revealed that shortly after the aircraft lifted off en route to Kuwait, Hamas launched a barrage of 150 rockets aimed at the airport, displaying the perilous environment surrounding the evacuation.

While the Pentagon’s delayed response has been sharply criticized, the quick thinking and bravery of local Israeli civilians and reservists proved vital. Without their intervention, it is believed that these unarmed U.S. soldiers could have been captured by Hamas, facing an uncertain and potentially deadly fate. Drawing comparisons to past crises such as the 2012 attack in Benghazi, one military intelligence analyst expressed relief that, thanks to the Israelis, the situation didn’t result in another tragedy. The analyst further told RedState.com that the events of October 7 serve as “a testament to the grit of a lot of the Israeli reserve soldiers who immediately stepped in.”

USAF C-17A 06-6155 #AE1459 as MOOSE41 departed Tel Aviv, heading east over Jordanian airspace pic.twitter.com/xSOXvlgDUb

— Johnny Gemini (@Borrowed7Time) October 8, 2023

The live-fire training exercise that the US Soldiers were participating in was dubbed Operation Iron Bison and was set to commence in the third week of October 2023, taking place at the IDF’s Urban Warfare Training Center at Tze’elim, located in southern Israel. The soldiers involved in this mission were part of an advance team preparing for the arrival of about 400 additional U.S. forces who were to participate in Operation Iron Bison.

These forces were drawn from various infantry, armor, and aviation units stationed in Kuwait as part of Operation Spartan Shield, a broader U.S. military presence in the region. According to RedState.com, about 10 U.S. Army logisticians had arrived in Israel several weeks before the attack, while the remainder of the 40-member advance team reached Israel just days before October 7. At the time, the troops were spread between off-base accommodations near Be’er Sheva and hotels in Tel Aviv, with no expectation of imminent danger from Gaza. As one officer who participated in the events explained to RedState.com, “There was far more concern about Lebanon and the West Bank than there was Gaza.”

The soldiers’ mission was straightforward: to ensure all preparations were in place for the upcoming joint exercise with the IDF, which included securing weapons and equipment. While the soldiers stationed at Tze’elim had their service weapons, they were locked away in an arms locker on the base, as is standard procedure before a training exercise. RedState.com reported that most of the weaponry and ammunition that would be used for the operation was en route via sea, carried by a ship transporting armor from the Mississippi National Guard’s 155th Armor Brigade. On October 7, that ship was nearing the entrance to the Red Sea when the Hamas attack occurred. As a result, the ship turned around and headed for Kuwait, unable to complete its mission.

The attack by Hamas was unexpected, and there was no indication during the soldiers’ country briefing that such an event was on the horizon. The officer speaking to RedState.com confirmed that the U.S. soldiers were not expecting to be in more danger than they would face during any standard military exercise. However, what unfolded on that day was anything but ordinary. Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists launched a devastating assault, and the U.S. soldiers stationed at Tze’elim were suddenly in mortal danger.

Despite the gravity of the situation, the presence of U.S. soldiers in Israel on October 7 has never been officially acknowledged by the U.S. government. However, an October 31, 2023, an article in The New York Times confirmed that the U.S. Defense Department had dispatched several dozen commandos to Israel in the days following the attack, along with a small team that had been in the country conducting previously scheduled training. This confirmation aligns with RedState.com’s reporting, which details the experiences of these troops caught in a war they never anticipated.

According to the information provided in the RedState.com report, Hamas had acquired “very detailed information” about the locations and identities of the American soldiers, including their names and ranks. The attack was not a random incident but a planned and targeted operation. As the soldiers arrived at Tze’elim, they quickly realized they were far from safe. The base, located in southern Israel, came under hostile fire, and the soldiers, alongside their Israeli counterparts, found themselves fighting for survival.

Even though the soldiers had made it to Tze’elim, it was clear they couldn’t stay there. The country was under attack, and their position was becoming increasingly precarious. Back in Kuwait, at Task Force Spartan headquarters, Army officers were pushing for an air extraction plan to evacuate both groups of soldiers—those at Tze’elim and those in Tel Aviv. However, as RedState.com revealed, the U.S. Air Force was initially reluctant to perform the extraction, citing the complexity and risks involved.

It wasn’t until after several tense discussions at the 3-star headquarters level that the Air Force agreed to send a C-17 to Tel Aviv to evacuate the soldiers. According to the officer who spoke to RedState.com, the delay in approval was due to resistance from higher-ranking officials. However, it’s important to note that officers below the political rank (3-star and below) remained steadfast in their determination to ensure the soldiers’ safe return. Despite facing considerable opposition from their superiors, their persistence paid off, and the evacuation flight was finally authorized.

The next challenge for the soldiers at Tze’elim was getting to Tel Aviv without their service weapons. The base was located near Be’er Sheva, a significant distance from the Tel Aviv airport’s military terminal, where the C-17 would land. With tensions high and uncertainty looming, the journey to the airport was dangerous, but it was necessary for their extraction. The report onRedState.com detailed the dire situation the soldiers faced during their travel, navigating through areas that had been heavily targeted by Hamas, as shown on maps such as those provided by Oct7map.com.

In a harrowing operation that could have ended in disaster, local Israelis took matters into their own hands. According to a military intelligence source who spoke to RedState.com, “They created a mini convoy and went through a running gun battle to get them to a safe place where they could then obtain transportation to Tel Aviv.” The convoy navigated hostile territory, dodging firefights and braving extreme danger to get the unarmed U.S. soldiers to safety. Without this assistance from local Israeli civilians, the Americans may have been captured by Hamas, who had specifically targeted their location. RedState.com highlighted that these Israelis were crucial to ensuring that the U.S. troops reached Tel Aviv alive.

The evacuation plan finally came together on the night of October 8. The soldiers, who had now been escorted to Tel Aviv, arrived at the military terminal at Ben Gurion International Airport, where a U.S. Air Force C-17 awaited them. According to RedState.com, the plane was on the ground for less than 30 minutes, just enough time to refuel and load the soldiers for their extraction. The situation was still volatile, with rockets beginning to land near the airport shortly after the C-17 took off. Loud explosions were reported across central Israel, and Hamas openly claimed that it was targeting the Ben Gurion International Airport. The narrow window of time available for the extraction underscored the fragility of the situation.

The soldiers had escaped just in time, but the operation could have easily turned into a disaster. One military intelligence official told RedState.com that the soldiers would have been taken hostage if the timing had been even slightly off, saying, “If the timing had gone, they would have been taken hostage, and you would have seen the propaganda videos of American troops being held.” Such a scenario would have escalated the crisis, potentially dragging the United States into direct combat with Hamas, further complicating the volatile geopolitical situation in the Middle East.

For all the heroism shown by the Israelis on the ground, the U.S. command structure’s response left much to be desired. The military intelligence official who spoke to RedState.com drew a direct comparison to the 2012 attack in Benghazi, where American officials were slow to act during a critical crisis. In this case, it was only after persistent efforts by lower-ranking Army and Air Force officers that the U.S. Air Force finally agreed to send the C-17 for the extraction.

The intelligence failures that led to this near disaster have sparked criticism on both sides of the Atlantic. While much attention has been focused on the shortcomings of Israeli intelligence in failing to anticipate the Hamas attack, it is clear that the United States was equally unprepared. RedState.com reported that the U.S. government had no contingency plan in place for extracting its soldiers, leaving them to rely on the bravery and quick thinking of local Israelis for their survival. If the situation had taken place in a hostile country, the outcome could have been tragically different, and the U.S. would have been forced to contend with the international consequences of American soldiers being taken captive or worse.

As the dust settles from the attack, the story of these U.S. soldiers and their harrowing escape shines a proverbial spotlight on the unpredictable nature of modern conflict and the dangers posed when military forces are caught off guard. The report on RedState.com also pointed out that the courage displayed by Israeli civilians, reservists, and the determination of lower-ranking U.S. military officers saved lives, but the delays and hesitations from U.S. command cast a shadow over what could have been a far worse tragedy.