A 19-year-old IDF combat documentarian filmed nearly the entire battle last week in southern Syria in which three Israeli soldiers were seriously wounded and at least 13 terrorists were killed, producing what the military says is the first real-time documentation of an exchange of fire between Israeli and hostile forces inside Syria.
The soldier, identified only as Cpl. B under military censorship, joined a reserve force from the IDF’s 55th Brigade and found himself advancing with a rifle in one hand and a camera in the other as fighting erupted in the Syrian village of Beit Jann, about 11 kilometers from the border.
Cpl. B's footage
(Video: IDF)
Though young, B is a veteran of the IDF Spokesperson’s operational documentation unit and has worked across every combat front since Oct. 7 — from Gaza’s northern battlegrounds to operations in the West Bank and recent IDF ground raids in southern Lebanon. According to the military, his unit has documented more than 3,000 operations across all theaters since the war began.
B completed six months of infantry training, earning rifleman 07 qualifications at the Golani Brigade’s training base before undergoing the IDF’s documentation course. Yet his first time under fire came not in Gaza or Lebanon, but in the Syrian Golan, taken by the IDF about a year ago after the fall of the Assad regime.
He had arrived Thursday afternoon at an IDF outpost below Mount Hermon and met the reservists he would later accompany into Beit Jann. Speaking to reporters, he described the operation much like the veteran officers beside him — despite the decades separating their service.
During the arrest operation, B filmed both video and still images. As the force began withdrawing with a detainee, he heard distant gunfire. Within moments, tracer rounds were closing in.
A preliminary military review found that terrorists from al-Jama’a al-Islamiyya had used a prearranged signal — a single, wide burst of fire — to alert members of the cell to leave their homes and attack the Israeli force. Dozens of armed terrorists then moved toward the reservists from the Paratroopers Brigade, triggering a fierce battle.
Israeli forces responded with tanks positioned in reserve, artillery fire to isolate the area, and heavy airstrikes to extract the wounded. “The moment the firefight began I understood I was documenting a historic event,” B said. “The IDF was fighting inside Syria — a battle that could not be hidden.”
Commanders, he said, insisted he remain with the fighting force rather than retreat to a safe position. Officers from the battalion command post said B fought as part of their team, providing covering fire and moving between alleyways as they tried to reach the wounded.
“It wasn’t just another battle,” one officer said. “At times it felt like ‘Black Hawk Down’ — wounded troops cut off, gunfire from alleys at close range, chaos on the radios, and one mission: reach the casualties fast.”
Air Force Black Hawk helicopters landed near the village to evacuate the three seriously wounded officers. Even as bullets passed overhead, B continued filming.
“My gear is a camera, but first of all I’m a soldier,” he said. “The reservists understood what I understood instantly — this wasn’t only an operational event but a communications event. A GoPro or a drone can’t replace what a trained documentarian captures. We know what angles matter and what supports Israel’s legitimacy.”
He added: “I didn’t stop filming even when the fire was right next to us.”