Merkava under fire. Cahalu's Armor in 'Black Saturday'

In connection with the events of the alleged “Black Saturday” or “Black Sabbath”, that is, the attack by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023, questions arose about the function of the Merkava tanks in the first day of the conflict. 1 could get the impression that the Merkavas did not play a major function at the time, were ineffective and easy destroyed. Meanwhile, the expanding amounts of material appear to show the opposite: the Merkava, even operating in conditions of complete surprise, chaos and alone, were highly dangerous and inflicted dense losses on Hamas militants, acting as a kind of fire brigade that was directed to critical areas. 1 of the officers of the armored forces, the commander of the tank company of the 77th battalion, said about “Black Saturday” and the function of Merkaw as follows: “Where the tank stood, we prevented the slaughter.”