When they reenact the moments of that "random" detection in the village of Aita a-Shaab, it's hard not to feel right next to them in one of the close encounters between Golani fighters and Radwan terrorists. 

We heard from a fighter, a "M" and the Intelligence officer in the 13th Battalion what happened in taking over the fortified target - until it became a significant intelligence achievement

"Count 21, 22, 23 - and the grenade explodes. We wait a few seconds, let the area calm down, and voila, we go in. On the right is a large closet, with a hole dug in the center. I scan it for a few seconds, trying to assess whether a person could pass through there. On the left, the uniform pants of a Hezbollah terrorist. They are not exciting either, we found them in almost every house in Maron a-Ras. Half a body already in the second room, releasing another bundle before entering, and then I see him on the floor in the center of the room - the shaft."

When Corporal G, a fighter in the 13th Battalion, reenacts one of Golani's daring actions among the crowded kasbahs of Aita a-Shaab, it sounds like a script for a blockbuster thriller. Description after description, in his voice, the memory is vivid, as if it happened only yesterday.

"Then I see him on the floor in the center of the room - the shaft"

"You have to understand that Lebanon is not Gaza, finding a shaft in the middle of the house is no small matter," he takes us to those critical moments at the heart of the search last October, "Anyone who has ever been in an operational activity can understand the noise at the center of the raid, which is clearly audible even through the seals: gunfire and explosions from all directions, shouting, what not. But even through the mask of voices I hear them speaking Arabic."

Within seconds, the room falls silent, all the fighters listen intently, trying to understand where the sounds are coming from. Although they don't necessarily understand what they are saying, the Golanchiks manage to interpret the pleas for surrender of the Hezbollah terrorists, emanating from the shaft they found.

"This was not our first day in Beita-e Sha'ab and certainly not in the ground operation, but until then we had not encountered a living soul," testifies the force commander, Lieutenant N., "In this location, which at first glance was quite 'normal', there was already a feeling that something was different. The drone scan also confirmed the suspicions and led to a clear order from the company commander - 'enter hard.'"

"When you break into the building, you discover a complex equipped with cabinets on all sides, and a refrigerator," he describes, "all of them have open doors, trying to hide what is in those rooms. We were prepared for this scenario, for a clash, but we didn't expect them to surrender without a fight."

Lieutenant N. immediately gets in touch with the company commander and calls him to the scene. Everyone is waiting alert, ready with their finger on the trigger, in case it's an attempt at deception. "From there, the company commander starts a discussion shouting: 'Oscott, Deer Black, Shwaya Shwaya,'" the fighter recalls. "Not a discussion in the world, but it works. We see two raised hands slowly coming out of the shaft. I stand locked with the sight and ready for one wrong movement to neutralize the body climbing out, but it doesn't come - the terrorist is subdued."

While they make sure that he is not carrying a weapon and does not pose a threat to them, the terrorist operative tells our fighters about two more terrorists at the bottom of the shaft: "Once again, two hands stick out, shouting in Arabic. The second comes out, followed by the third, and we find ourselves with three terrorists trapped."

As they wait to hand over the reins to the field investigators of Unit 504 who are called to the scene, the fighters conduct another scan and continue to clear the area - inside and out. "We discover an entire combat complex built of two spaces, the same perforated cabinet connecting the two. The shaft is also built in the same way, it is a complete structure designed to carry out a sophisticated ambush," explains the platoon commander.

"Until 504 arrived, I and one of the Arabic-speaking fighters conducted an initial interrogation of the operatives," says the battalion commander, Lieutenant Y., "At this point we discover that these are three Radwan terrorists."

If they had chosen to carry out the attack, there is no telling what would have happened there. Even after this incident, it is clear to us that we must not underestimate the enemy.

"Two of them volunteer information, identify themselves by their first names and start talking, but the third is not willing to say a word," he continues. "Slowly we realize that he was the most senior among them, he encouraged them to stay there and launch an attack against us. The others really didn't want to be there - one said he wasn't feeling well and wanted to run away, but because we had already arrived in the village - it was too late."

"If they had chosen to carry out the attack, there's no telling what would have happened there," he reiterates, "They came organized - new blackened Kalashnikovs, helmets, grenades, AMR. Even after this incident, it's clear to us that we must not underestimate the enemy, that this was an unusual capture - the first of its kind in the 'Northern Arrows' in which Radwan terrorists were captured."

During their interrogation by the 504th, the terrorist operatives revealed the identity of the compound commander who commanded them directly and provided information about a number of operatives in the village and manned locations. "Later, the patrol did indeed find terrorists in those places," the commander emphasizes, "In addition to the tactical intelligence we obtained from them, we recorded them and distributed the recording using drones throughout the village. As a result, seven more terrorists surrendered."

"I believe that this created pressure on all the operatives in the area - it is no coincidence that eleven terrorist operatives in the village decide to surrender and give up. This is something we have hardly seen in southern Lebanon, either before or after this operation," he explains.

And what caused the surrender of the first three Radwan terrorists in the village? "I believe that if we had not entered with such force, they might have tried to fight back," the platoon commander maintains. Corporal C also believes this: "You can be a Hezbollah operative from the edge or a fighter in an 'elite' force, but if the Golani Brigade enters the village where you are hiding - you better come out with your hands up."