Dozens of Gaza-adjacent Israeli communities have so far taken part in the “Magen 48” training project for local defense teams, the Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday.
The project, named after the 48 members of local emergency response teams and security coordinators who fell on Oct. 7, 2023 and during the subsequent war, is planned to involve all 67 towns and kibbutzim in the IDF’s Gaza Division area of responsibility, according to an article published on the IDF website.
“In the end, people will return to their homes only if they feel safe,” said Master Sgt. (res.) A., a former counterterrorism instructor and founder of “Magen 48,” according to the article.
“When they have the ability to respond at the community level, along with a genuine and well-practiced connection with the army, they are already in a different place—and that is what we are looking for,” he added.
The project offers eight training sessions for each community defense team, with hundreds of participants and dozens of instructors.
The process begins with exercises in the streets of the communities themselves, and incorporates complex scenarios, with the participation of the community defense teams, command centers, the Gaza Division and additional forces, according to the IDF.
The instructors accompany the trainees and monitor each participant’s performance.
After seven sessions in which operational readiness is gradually developed, the eighth training session arrives and, according to the founder, this is when the local teams are joined by the entire array of forces.
“The main objective is for the community to be able to respond until the army arrives, and when it does arrive, to know how to integrate with it properly,” said A. “Ultimately, this means much better cooperation between them and a broader set of capabilities for the community defense teams.”
Explaining the rationale behind the project, A. said that a few months after the war broke out, “we saw the state of readiness of the community defense teams in the Gaza border area and realized that we needed to build a new, long-term program for them that would connect all the different forces operating on the ground.”
He added, “The memory of the 48 members of the community defense teams accompanies us throughout this entire journey. They were there to defend their homes, and this project is intended to strengthen and train those who carry on their path.”
