![](https://carolineglick.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Gaza-division-battle.jpg)
I spoke with reserve Lt. Col. Yaron Buskila, operations officer for the Gaza Division. Col. Buskila shared his first-person account of the battle at division headquarters on Oct. 7. We discussed the gap between the Southern Command’s understanding of Hamas’s intentions and preparations for a worst-case scenario and the far worse scenario that unfolded on Oct. 7. Buskila and I also discussed – the IDF’s operations in northern Gaza, and in southern Gaza – the challenge of defeating Hamas as it holds hundreds of hostages – the imperative of victory in the north against Hezbollah, and other key issues.