‘We’re all carrying this war on our backs’: Elite Paratroopers unit marks 70 years

The Paratroopers Reconnaissance Unit, one of the IDF’s elite combat units, is marking 70 years since its establishment. Seven decades after its founding, the unit remains heavily involved in combat operations, with its soldiers moving repeatedly between fronts. “We’re now moving from Gaza and heading up to the West Bank, to Jenin. We’ll be there over the holidays,” said Lt. Col. N., the unit’s commander, who, like the other officers interviewed for this article, can be identified only by his initial under IDF information security rules. “We’ve all been in continuous combat since Oct. 7,” he said, referring to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that triggered the war in Gaza. “We carried out operations and took part in hostage missions. We operated in most areas of Gaza, including incidents connected to the hostages. From there, the unit moved to Lebanon and then Syria.