taken into a tunnel, and the assistant company commander took a small group of soldiers with him into the tunnel in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to rescue Goldin. After learning of Goldin's capture, the IDF initiated the Hannibal Directive and carried out a relentless air and ground attack on residential areas of Rafah. In the summer of 2015, a United Nations independent commission inquiry, as well as a joint report by Amnesty International and Forensic Architecture, found that Israel's indiscriminate violence against all human life on Black Friday amounted to war crimes. The reports detail the massive Israeli bombardment that killed between 135 and 200 Palestinian civilians, including 75 children. The IDF Rabbinate later declared the Goldin deceased for the purposes of Jewish burial and grieving rituals and buried the remains. The assistant company commander was later awarded Israel's highest military honor, and the soldiers that accompanied him into the tunnel were also awarded military commendations. The Givati Brigade was the most highly decorated brigade in the IDF in 2014, despite war crime accusations by the international community and despite killing fellow IDF soldier Tal Nachman by friendly fire. 2015 In January 2015, a convoy belonging to the Tsabar Battalion of the Givati Brigade was attacked by Hezbollah in Shebaa Farms. 2022 In November 2022, the Givati Brigade was involved in "a series of incidents" of alleged abuses towards civilians in Jerusalem and the West Bank. Within the space of a few weeks, Givati Brigade soldiers were accused of spitting at an Armenian Christian archbishop leading a pilgrimage (two soldiers were detained by police), beating Israeli human rights activists in Hebron (two soldiers were suspended), and assaulting a Palestinian man (three soldiers were suspended). While IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi contended that "Incidents such as these tarnish the unit in which the soldier serves, the IDF and the State of Israel," Israeli MK and national security minister-designate Itamar Ben-Gvir urged the IDF to "think twice" about whether to punish the soldiers, questioning whether they had been "provoked" and contending that disciplining them "weakens the hands of the soldiers and does not strengthen them in the fight against terrorism." Weapons and Gear The Givati brigade uses the IMI Tavor TAR-21 rifle See also History of the Israel Defense Forces List of battles and operations in the 1948 Palestine war Mechinat Rabin Hannibal Directive References External links Official Givati Brigade Website