The Yamam ( he, ימ"מ, an acronym for ''Centralized Special Unit'' , ''Yeḥida Merkazit Meyuḥedet''), also called in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and Israel's National Counter Terror Unit (I.N.C.T.U.) in English, is Israel's national counter-terrorism unit, one of four special units of the Israel Border Police. The Yamam is capable of both hostage-rescue operations and offensive take-over raids against terrorist targets in civilian areas. Besides military and counter-terrorism duties, it also performs

SWAT In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

duties and undercover police work.

History

The Yamam was established in late 1974 after the Ma'alot massacre, where a failed rescue operation by special forces units resulted in the murder of 21 schoolchildren before the hostage takers were killed. Since hostage rescue tactics in friendly territory differ from those used in hostile areas, it was decided to establish an elite civilian force which develops and practices a special CQB (Close Quarters Battles) doctrine for counter-terrorism operations in friendly territory and hostage rescue.

Operational record 1974 – September 2000

Some of the missions known to the public prior to the al-Aqsa Intifada are listed below: * March 1978, a Yamam force engaged the militants who took over a bus in an event known as the " Coastal Road massacre". *March 1988: Yamam was called into action after a group of three Palestinians hijacked a bus full of women travelling to work at the Negev Nuclear Research Center near Dimona, in an incident known as the " Mothers' Bus attack". The terrorists killed 3 passengers while Yamam returned fire, and in a 40-second takeover killed all three hijackers. * September 8, 1992: Yamam snipers shot and killed Eitan Mor, a mentally disturbed man who killed 4 women and injured 2 more in a shooting spree at a mental health clinic in Jerusalem. * May 3, 1994: Yamam

sniper A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision r ...

s shot and killed an armed man in Uzi Meshulam's compound after he shot at a police helicopter. *March 3, 2000: Yamam captured an armed group hidden in the Israeli–Arab town of Tayibe. One man was arrested and four militants were killed by Yamam snipers and an IDF Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer.

Operational record during the Second Intifada

During the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. ...

, under the Shin Bet's command, Yamam forces intercepted many militants, either by arresting them or killing them. Several high-profile militants were killed by Yamam operators. Often, when the wanted Palestinian militants were barricaded inside a building, Yamam forces laid siege to it while IDF Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozers forced them out by razing the structure. According to the records, YAMAM killed 179 terrorists during 2000–2005, 50 of them were suicide bombers, and arrested hundreds more.

Operational record after the Second Intifada

* On May 23, 2006, YAMAM force, using intelligence provided by the Shin-Bet, arrested Ibrahim Hamed, the leader of Hamas in

Judea and Samaria The Judea and Samaria Area ( he, אֵזוֹר יְהוּדָה וְשׁוֹמְרוֹן, translit=Ezor Yehuda VeShomron; ar, يهودا والسامرة, translit=Yahūda wa-s-Sāmara) is an administrative division of Israel. It encompasses th ...

and an arch- terrorist responsible for many lethal terror attacks, after an IDF Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozer started ramming the house in which he was hiding. * On September 23, 2014, YAMAM force, together with

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

Combat Engineering Corps bulldozers, killed the two Hamas

terror Terror(s) or The Terror may refer to: Politics * Reign of Terror, commonly known as The Terror, a period of violence (1793–1794) after the onset of the French Revolution * Terror (politics), a policy of political repression and violence Emoti ...

ists who kidnapped and murdered 3 Israeli teenagers in June 2014. * During the wave of Palestinian terrorism in 2014 and 2015-2016, YAMAM operators killed or arrested high-profile Palestinian terrorists who murdered Israeli civilians. * YAMAM operators rearrested four out of the six Palestinian prisoners convicted for terrorism that escaped from the Gilboa prison in September 2021. * On February 8, 2022, YAMAM operators killed 3 Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades militants, responsible for several shooting attacks in January 2022. * On April 2, 2022, YAMAM operators killed 3 Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists, on their way to commit terrorist attack. In the firefight, a YAMAM section commander was critically wounded in action, but his life were saved by YAMAM paramedic Noam Raz. * On August 19, 2022, YAMAM operators killed Ibrahim a-Naboulsi, a commander of the Lions' Den terror cell. The operators launched MATADOR shoulder-fired missile into the apartment he was barricading in

Nablus Nablus ( ; ar, نابلس, Nābulus ; he, שכם, Šəḵem, ISO 259-3: ; Samaritan Hebrew: , romanized: ; el, Νεάπολις, Νeápolis) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a popula ...

. Two armed terrorists were also killed in that raid. A YAMAM police dog was killed in action. * On October 25, 2002, the YAMAM lead a combined raid (with the

and the Shin Bet) on the Lions' Den headquarter and bomb lab in the heart of

. 5 terrorists, including commanders in the Lions' Den, were killed in the fight and the bomb lab was destroyed. The raid landed a severe blow to the Lions' Den, after which, many of its members surrendered to Palestinian security forces. Most of the Unit's activity is classified.

Honors and awards

* In October 2010, the Yamam won the "

Urban Shield The Alameda County Sheriff's Office (ACSO) is a law enforcement agency serving Alameda County, California. ACSO is accredited through the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA), the American Correctional Association (ACA ...

" SWAT competition held by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office setting a new record in the competition. * In October 2011, the Yamam won the "Urban Shield" SWAT competition held by the Alameda County Sheriff's Office for the second consecutive year. *In 2011, the Yamam won first place in a shooting competition between snipers from various Israeli special police and commando units. *In October 2013, the Yamam won the international "Urban Shield" counter-terror competition against 27 top rated police and federal SWAT teams from around the world. Their point score was the highest ever in the history of the competition. The unit received number of honor citations (TZALASH, ציון לשבח) from the Commissioner of the

Israeli Police The Israel Police ( he, משטרת ישראל, ''Mišteret Yisra'el''; ar, شرطة إسرائيل, ''Shurtat Isrāʼīl'') is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fightin ...

: 2011 2014, 2016, ,2020 and 2022. In 2022 the unit received a honor citation from the

Chief of the General Staff (צל"ש הרמטכ"ל) for their fighting during

Operation Breakwater Operation Breakwater, also called Operation Break the Wave, was an operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Triggered by terrorism within Israel, the main purpose was to reduce crime and violence in the West Bank. The IDF conduc ...

. Many YAMAM operators won medals of honor and personal citations. YAMAM

Pascal Avrahami received the Israeli Police "Medal of Courage" (עיטור האומץ) and two Medals of Valor (עיטור המופת).

Name and structure

In Israel, the Yamam is also known as the "Special Unit for Counter-Terror Warfare" ( he, היחידה המיוחדת ללוחמה בטרור). It is subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Security central command and is part of the civilian Israel Police force, specifically the Israel Border Police. Its operators and officers are professional policemen on payroll, usually with

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and m ...

experience from their military service within the

(IDF). Yamam recruits its members exclusively from Israeli units.

Responsibilities

The unit is primarily responsible for civilian hostage rescue within Israel's borders, but from around the mid-1990s it has also been used for tasks such as arresting police suspects who have barricaded themselves in structures and requiring specialized extraction methods, as well as in personal security for

VIPs A very important person or personage (VIP or V.I.P.) is a person who is accorded special privileges due to their high social status, influence or importance. The term was not common until sometime after World War 2 by RAF pilots. Examples in ...

and in counter-terror operations within the West Bank and

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

. The Yamam are schooled in basic

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walte ...

and sometimes dress to assimilate within the Arab population to avoid detection in order to carry out raids to arrest those suspected of conducting terrorist activities within Israel. The Yamam has a very high volume of activity, conducting hundreds of operations every year, often almost daily. However, most of the Yamam's activity is classified, and published Yamam operations are often credited to other units.

Organization

The Yamam has around 200 officers, and consists of a headquarters element, an intelligence section and a small team responsible for the development of new operational techniques and testing new equipment. Aside from these central elements, the bulk of the unit is divided into a number of sections, each consisting of five teams, each containing operators with a particular specialization, so that the section includes within its numbers all the elements needed for a successful operation: roping team, entry team, medic team, sniping team, K-9 team, EOD team (demolition and bomb disposal). Thus, whereas an IDF special forces operation needs to assemble elements from different specialist units, in Yamam, they are all permanently part of the same unit, living, training and operating together.

Recruitment and training

Applicants for Yamam must be between 22 and 30 years old and have completed their three-year infantry service in the IDF with a level 8 of IDF training or higher, although no previous police experience is required. Unlike American SWAT teams, the Yamam is a professional unit with only combat duties and no other type of police work. The selection process includes a "hell week" that is said to be one of the hardest in the world. This level of difficulty is achieved because all the applicants are already seasoned combat soldiers, many having served in elite special forces units during their compulsory conscription as well. The skills they are looking for in every candidate are: intelligence, physical fitness, motivation, trustworthiness, accountability, maturity, stability, judgment, decisiveness, teamwork, influence, and communication. Training lasts six months and is carried out in the unit's own training center, although some use is made of the facilities at the IDF Counter Terror Warfare School (LOTAR, Unit 707.) The course is divided into a three-month general CT training period at the end of which recruits are selected for their specialization and then concentrate for the remaining four months on that specialization. Upon graduation, individuals are posted to fill gaps in the sections. Yamam considers itself to have several advantages over other IDF counter-terror units: firstly because the men are more mature, with most in their mid 30s and early 40s and having spent more time in the unit than equivalent military units, and secondly, because the units contain a far broader range of ages and experience among operatives. The Yamam is self-dependent, training its own operators in all fields, such as sniping, reconnaissance, rappeling, dog operating, and

bomb disposal Bomb disposal is an explosives engineering profession using the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. ''Bomb disposal'' is an all-encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the militar ...

. As a result, Yamam has a rapid deployment time and high coordination between various squads (e.g. sniping squad, entry team, engagement force).

Equipment

Firearms: *

Pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, an ...

s **

Glock-17 Glock is a brand of polymer- framed, short recoil-operated, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and police service by 1982 after it was the ...

Pistol ** Glock-19 Pistol ** Glock-26 back-up weapon *

Submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...

s ** Para Micro-Uzi/Uzi-Pro ** B&T APC9 Submachine gun ** FN P90 Submachine gun *

Shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...

s ** Remington 870 Combat Shotgun ** Benelli M4 Combat Shotgun * Assault rifles ** M4A1 carbine (modified by the unit's armorers) ** Colt Commando ** IWI Arad :he:ערד (רובה) *

Sniper rifle A sniper rifle is a high-precision, long-range rifle. Requirements include accuracy, reliability, mobility, concealment and optics for anti-personnel, anti-materiel and surveillance uses of the military sniper. The modern sniper rifle is a por ...

s ** SR-25 Mk 11 Semi-automatic

** PGM Précision Bolt-action Sniper rifles ( PGM Ultima Ratio,

PGM 338 The PGM 338, also known as the PGM .338 LM (LM - Lapua Magnum) or PGM Mini-Hecate .338, is French sniper rifle from the early 1990's (being produced since 1993). It uses the .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6×70mm) cartridge, which remains supersonic up to a ...

, PGM Hécate II) ** Barrett MRAD Multi-Role Adaptive Design Bolt-Action

** Barrett M82A1 Anti-materiel rifle *

Grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade genera ...

s and rockets **

M203 grenade launcher The M203 is a single-shot 40 mm under-barrel grenade launcher designed to attach to a rifle. It uses the same rounds as the older stand-alone M79 break-action grenade launcher, which utilizes the high-low propulsion system to keep recoil force ...

M72 LAW The M72 LAW (light anti-tank weapon, also referred to as the light anti-armor weapon or LAW as well as LAWS: light anti-armor weapons system) is a portable one-shot unguided anti-tank weapon. The solid rocket propulsion unit was developed in th ...

rocket-propelled grenade A rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) is a shoulder-fired missile weapon that launches rockets equipped with an explosive warhead. Most RPGs can be carried by an individual soldier, and are frequently used as anti-tank weapons. These warheads are a ...

** MATADOR shoulder-fired missile