Israeli soldier confirms troops ordered to stand down, not patrol on 7 October

An Israeli soldier who survived the Palestinian raid on 7 October 2023 told reporters, on camera, that he and all the troops in the area of the fence between southern Israel and Gaza were ordered, early on the morning of 7 October, to stay in their posts and not to patrol the fence for several hours – the hours in which the raid began.

The soldier’s testimony, from August 2025, is being recirculated on social media…