The 7th Wing is the special air forces wing of the Israeli Air Force. It is composed of three combat units

Unit 669 300px, Unit 669 emblem The Unit 669 (, romanized: ''Yechida Taktit LeChilu'tz Meyuchad 669,'' lit. 'Tactical unit for special rescue') is a heliborne combat search and rescue extraction unit, subordinate to 7 Wing of the Israeli Air Force. ...

Shaldag Unit Unit 5101, more commonly known as Shaldag (, '' Kingfisher''), is one of the premier Israeli Air Force (IAF) Sayeret units. The unit is part of the 7th Special Air Forces Wing and is based in the Palmachim Airbase. The unit is led by an officer ...

, and

Unit 5700 Unit 5700 also known as Forward Air Field Tactical Unit (Hebrew acronym YAHAK) is a special unit of the Israeli Air Force concerned with establishing and operating temporary forward landing bases for transport, reinforcement, logistics, and other pu ...

. The wing's headquarters is based at the

Palmachim Airbase Palmachim Airbase (, ) is an Israeli Air Force, Israeli Air Force (IAF) base and spaceport, which the IAF and the Israel Space Agency, Israel Space Agency (ISA) operate jointly. It is located west of the city of Yavne on the Mediterranean coas ...

Roles

The wing was established out of an operational need to deal with the Air Force's core challenge of having a special operative force for designated operations. The wing is a complementary component to the Air Force's activities through special operations in routine and emergency. The wing's main missions include:ברוכים הבאים לכנף 7 - הבית החדש של חילות האוויר המיוחדים
on the IDF website, July 12, 2020, compiled in the Internet Archive *

Special reconnaissance Special reconnaissance (SR) is conducted by small units, such as a recon team, made up of highly trained military personnel, usually from special forces units and/or military intelligence organizations. Special reconnaissance teams operate behind ...

* Tactical air control *

Airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

Assault Zone establishment *

Combat search and rescue Combat search and rescue (CSAR) are search and rescue operations that are carried out during war that are within or near combat zones. A CSAR mission may be carried out by a task force of helicopters, ground-attack aircraft, aerial refueling ta ...

* Operation of forward

airstrip An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

s and

airfield An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes in ...

Units

The wing currently has three operational units on three different bases: *

Combat Search and Rescue Combat search and rescue (CSAR) are search and rescue operations that are carried out during war that are within or near combat zones. A CSAR mission may be carried out by a task force of helicopters, ground-attack aircraft, aerial refueling ta ...

Unit (CSAR, on Tel Nof and

Palmachim Palmachim () is a kibbutz in central Israel. Located about ten kilometers south of the Gush Dan, Tel Aviv area along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, among the sand dunes, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gan Raveh Regional Council. In it h ...

) *

- Air Commando Unit (on

) *

- Forward Air Field Tactical Unit (on

Nevatim Nevatim () is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the northern Negev desert around south-east of Beersheba, it falls under the jurisdiction of Bnei Shimon Regional Council. In it had a population of . The nearest settlements are the Bedoui ...

)

History

Establishment

Until the establishment of the Wing, the wing's units were subordinated to the various air force bases and the professional direction was the responsibility of the Special Air Forces Command. With the establishment of the wing in July 2020, the command of the Special Air Forces that operated at the Air Force Headquarters was abolished, and a SAF branch in the attack department and a SAF training section in an integrated training branch was established at the corps headquarters.

October 7 Surprise Attack

Following the surprise attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, the

was deployed to fight Hamas militants in the communities they had infiltrated. The unit's fighters were flown by helicopters to the rear of the terrorist units and fought in the Battle of Re'im Camp, the Battle of

Kibbutz Be'eri Be'eri () is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the north-western Negev desert near the eastern border with the Gaza Strip, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of . During the Be'eri massa ...

, the Battle of Kibbutz Alumim, the Battle of Holit, and the Battle of

Kfar Aza Kfar Aza () is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located between Netivot and Sderot around east of Gaza, it falls under the jurisdiction of Sha'ar HaNegev Regional Council. In , it had a population of . History The kibbutz was initially establis ...

. During the battles, five of the

fighters were killed. Similarly, the

was the first to reach certain combat centers, the unit evacuated hundreds of wounded in operational cooperation with the circle of elite units in the IDF, especially the mobility unit.

Invasion of Gaza Strip

The

participated in the raid on Shifa Hospital and the exposure of Hamas's tunnel network beneath it, together with Yahalom fighters from the

Combat Engineering Corps The Israeli Combat Engineering Corps (, ''Heil HaHandasa HaKravit'') is part of the Israel Defense Forces with responsibility for mobility assurance, road breaching, defense and fortifications, counter-mobility of enemy forces, construction and ...

and

Oketz Unit The Oketz Unit, also designated as ''Unit 7142'', is the independent canine special forces (sayeret) unit of the Israel Defense Forces. History It was founded in 1939 as part of Haganah, and later dismantled in 1954. In 1974, a new unit was e ...

. On 20 December 2023,

along with

Sayeret Matkal Sayeret Matkal () (formerly Unit 269 or Unit 262) (English: General Staff Reconnaissance Unit), is the special reconnaissance unit (''sayeret'') of Israel's General Staff (''matkal''). It is considered one of the premier special forces units of ...

Shayetet 13 Shayetet 13 () is a naval commando unit of the Israeli Navy and one of the primary sayeret, reconnaissance units of the Israel Defense Forces. Shayetet 13 specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counter-terrorism, sabotage, maritime intelligence ...

, the

401st Brigade The 401st "Iron Tracks" Brigade (, ''Ikvot HaBarzel'') is an Armored Brigade in the 162nd Division of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). History Established in 1966, 401 Brigade is one of the youngest brigades of the IDF. It took its current ...

, and Oketz fighters, completed the takeover of the "Senior Officials' Quarter" of

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

in Palestine Square in the Rimal neighborhood in central Gaza City. The quarter served as the main governmental and security hub of Hamas. The complex includes an extensive tunnel network connecting the offices of senior officials, safe houses, offices, and residences of the military wing and the military leadership of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. On February, together with other special forces, the

took a major part in Operation Golden Hand to free two hostages, Fernando Simon Merman and Luis Har, who were held in Rafah . The force and the abductees from the scene of the operation were taken by

to the evacuation helicopter, which evacuated the abductees to the

Sheba Medical Center Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer (), also known as Tel HaShomer Hospital, is the largest hospital in Israel, located in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan in the Tel HaShomer neighborhood, Israel. In 2025, ''Newsweek'' ranked it as ...

Sources & References

* * {{Cite web, url=https://www.iaf.org.il/9589-56129-he/IAF.aspx, title=סערה על הקרקע, website=Israeli Air Force website Air force special forces units Special forces of Israel Israeli Air Force units Military units and formations established in 2022 2022 establishments in Israel