Outnumbered 6 to 1: the heroic stand of Golani’s 13th Battalion at the Pega outpost
In several waves of assaults on October 7, 2023, roughly 150 Hamas terrorists attacked the Pega outpost near the Gaza border. Facing them were just 25 fighters from Golani’s 13th Battalion. Fourteen of them, including a platoon commander who was the only officer at the post that morning, were killed in and around the outpost.
Three additional tank soldiers and Warrant Officer Muhammad Atrash, who was abducted during the battle and returned to Israel more than two years later in a hostage deal, also died in the fighting.
The fallen soldiers were: Cpt. Dekel Swissa, Warrant Officer Muhammad Atrash, Sgt. Roei Peri, Staff Sgt. Dolev Amouyal, Sgt. Ido David Binenstock, Staff Sgt. Itamar Ben Yehuda, Staff Sgt. Yakir Levi, Staff Sgt. Shalev Baranes, Staff Sgt. Tomer Barak, Staff Sgt. Itay Ofek Glisko, Sgt. Itamar Cohen, Staff Sgt. Haim Meir Eden, Sgt. Lior Azizov, Staff Sgt. Idan Raz, Sgt. Ariel Eliyahu, Sgt. Ofir Testa, Sgt. Habib Kiean, and Staff Sgt. Shay Levinson.
Months before the war, the soldiers of the command platoon had completed their training and were preparing for officer courses. They were assigned to Battalion 13 and became known as “Diego Company” in their sector.
“On Friday night, our deputy company commander told us there would be a drill Saturday morning simulating an attack on the outpost,” recalled a soldier identified as A. “It was an order from our battalion commander, Lt. Col. Tomer Greenberg. He wanted us ready.”
At dawn on October 7, a soldier identified as M. was on patrol in a jeep outside the base when the first barrages of rockets began. He returned to the outpost to handle logistics just as the fighting erupted. At the same time, A., commanding the standby squad, ordered his men to the shelter—except for the mortar team, which was positioned on a nearby pad.“We got a call from the observers that terrorists had begun crossing the fence, and within a minute and a half we heard gunfire toward the mortar unit,” A. said.
The mortar unit was already in combat readiness, vehicles positioned outside. Dozens of terrorists charged their way—members of Hamas’s elite Nukhba force. Some climbed a nearby hill, known as Upper Pega, which overlooked the base, and opened fire, while dozens more stormed from the opposite side.
Heavy exchanges erupted. The Golani troops killed several terrorists in close combat, but Sgt. Habib Kiyan was killed early in the battle. Moments later, Staff Sgt. Tomer Barak was wounded. Sgt. Ido David Binenstock rushed to rescue him, killing a terrorist at point-blank range before grenades were thrown at them. Both were killed. Staff Sgt. Itamar Ben Yehuda was critically injured and later died, as did Staff Sgt. Haim Meir Eden, who succumbed to his wounds two months later in the hospital.
Meanwhile, Capt. Dekel Suissa rallied his men, assigned them to defensive positions, and joined the mortar unit with his command team. “The gunner opened the door first and saw a crazy number of terrorists,” A. said. Suissa was hit twice—one bullet stopped by his ceramic vest, another piercing his lung and shattering ribs.
The deputy company commander, about four kilometers away, dispatched tanks to aid the fight and drove his Namer armored vehicle toward the base, engaging terrorists along the way. Another APC tried to reach the outpost to evacuate the wounded but was ambushed and forced back.
“At that stage, several wounded were brought into the shelter,” A. recalled. Medics treated severe chest and abdominal wounds. Outside, M. and other fighters took up positions around the perimeter, ready for renewed contact.
“For about an hour and a half, we held one of the guard posts,” M. said. “Every few minutes a bullet hit the position. We couldn’t tell where it came from, but we knew there was a sniper, so we stayed low.”
Around that time, Sgt. Itamar Cohen climbed to another position to fire a LAW missile at a group of terrorists outside the outpost. As he reached the post, he came under heavy fire and was killed.
Soon after, Suissa gathered his soldiers in the shelter. “He told us this was a widespread attack, not just on Pega, that reinforcements likely wouldn’t come, that it was just us—and that this is what we trained for,” A. recalled. “He said, word for word: ‘We are Golani Battalion 13, Company C—and we’ll fight until the last bullet.’”
The troops braced for further combat. “The adrenaline was insane,” said one. “Everyone thought, ‘How did I end up here?’ Some said the Shema; others called their families.”
With the Air Force preparing a strike, the soldiers stayed in the shelter while fighter jets targeted the terrorists swarming the base.
Outside, Suissa and Sgt. Roi Perry held the main gate, battling waves of attackers to cover the retreating soldiers. “We took bursts of fire from so many terrorists,” M. said. “By the end, when Suissa and Perry fell, they had killed a huge number of terrorists at the entrance.”
Elsewhere, A. and several others blocked another entry point—but terrorists infiltrated through the gate and attacked from inside. One terrorist fired at gas tanks near A., triggering a massive explosion.
Moments later, grenades were hurled toward A. and his comrades, who were nearly out of ammunition. Realizing they could no longer hold the position, they escaped through a side exit and reached Sa’ad Junction, where they met Lt. Col. Tomer Greenberg, who later fell in battle. He reassigned them to new missions, and they returned to fight in the Gaza border communities.
Inside the outpost, the remaining terrorists identified the surviving soldiers barricaded in the dining hall, which served as the shelter. They stood near the entrances and exchanged fire for hours. Air support never came—fighter jets were diverted to defend nearby kibbutzim.
“At one point the terrorists started throwing grenades into the corridor,” M. said. The soldiers moved the wounded to the center behind makeshift barricades of heavy tables. Those still able to fight continued shooting.
“To conserve ammunition, we fired a few bullets toward the entrance every minute or two, so they’d know we were still there,” M. said. The terrorists then tried to burn them out. “They dragged mattresses to the doorway and set them on fire. The flames didn’t reach inside, but thick, black smoke filled the room. They wanted to burn us alive or force us out.”
As smoke filled the shelter, breathing became impossible. “I couldn’t see my hand,” M. said. “I was choking and had to decide whether to stay and suffocate or go out and die fighting.”
Five soldiers made a fateful choice: Sgt. Lior Azizov, Staff Sgt. Shalev Bernes, Staff Sgt. Idan Raz, Staff Sgt. Yakir Levy, and Staff Sgt. Itay Ofek Glisko charged through the flames to let in fresh air for their comrades. All five were killed by terrorists waiting outside—but their act saved those inside.
“Their decision changed everything,” M. said. “Fresh air came in, and we could breathe again.”
M. later crawled to the floor to find cleaner air. “I realized I could breathe better close to the ground, so I told everyone to lie down and breathe through the drainage holes,” he said. “Then the Air Force launched a massive strike on the outpost. It paralyzed most of the terrorists.”
The fire subsided, and the smoke cleared. “I felt my body freezing up, like hypothermia,” M. recalled. “I was burned, but suddenly I was cold. We still didn’t know if we’d been overrun, so we stayed guarding the doors, waiting for reinforcements. Then we heard footsteps. I had half a magazine left and said, ‘Either it’s the IDF—or I fight until the last bullet.’”
At around 5 p.m., IDF reinforcements finally arrived, rescuing the surviving soldiers. Earlier, a unit advancing from Nahal Oz to assist Pega had been struck by a Kornet anti-tank missile fired from Gaza’s Shejaiya neighborhood, killing Staff Sgt. Dolev Amoyal.