There are many images burned into the Israeli consciousness from October 7. One of the most painful is the fate of the IDF surveillance soldiers—the tatzpitaniyot.
Mostly eighteen and nineteen years old, these young women were tasked with watching Hamas.
They saw the preparations and warned their superiors—and were promptly ignored. When Hamas stormed their bases on October 7, they paid the price for the IDF’s failure. Fifteen were murdered. Seven were kidnapped. All were eventually returned to Israel alive—except one.
Corporal Noa Marciano’s body was recovered by the IDF in November 2023. An autopsy determined that she had been wounded during an IDF strike on the apartment where she was being held. Her captor was killed in the strike, and Marciano was rushed to al-Shifa Hospital.