Unit 504 is one of the most secret units in the IDF that deals with intel inside the Arab population, interrogations and precise intelligence. Because of the nature of their work, you don't hear much about them, but they are there.

Publication was allowed to get a small glimpse inside that work, and report here in two parts - Here is Part #1

An interview with an investigator in 504 is no small feat. Those who are used to being on the questioning side, this time take us to the heart of the battlefield through the eyes of a human intelligence unit. We heard how 3 minutes inside the head of a Hamas terrorist ended with the destruction of a terror tunnel, and about the cigarette with Gaza that led to the saving of the lives of fighters - just before they entered an ambush

Darkness descends on the Jabaliya refugee camp, and among the tanks surrounding it, two figures are hidden. 

They walk leisurely on the sand, whistling a Palestinian folk tune - they are almost indistinguishable from the local population. Only behind their darting eyes, searching the horizon for an unknown object, is hidden the mission they were sent to do: thwarting Hamas's most valuable weapon.

You might have thought of a long-range missile launcher or a powerful explosive device, but this is precisely the information that the field investigators of the 504th Human Intelligence Unit gather, which proves itself almost daily in Gaza and Lebanon, and saves the lives of IDF fighters and Israeli citizens.

Compared to familiar methods, their means of warfare are 180 degrees different. These fighters, who join forces for operations, play feverish mind games against brutal murderers - without looking away.

AT THE HEART OF THE SEARCH - WITH A TANK ON EACH SIDE

"This happened in an operation in the northern Gaza Strip not long ago," begins Capt. (res.) A., a field investigator in the 504th, recounting to me one of the latest interrogations he led. 

"We received indications of Hamas terrorists staying in a school in the refugee camp. I joined the armored fighters who went on the attack to locate the location, and as soon as we reached the point, I announced to everyone in the building to evacuate it, when it was clear to me that terrorists were hiding alongside the population that was there." 

Among the stream of Gazans who were evacuating the place at that moment, he manages to catch a glimpse of one person who aroused his suspicions. "He surrendered almost immediately, tried to present a calm appearance and 'help' our soldiers manage the incident. But after years of field investigations, we can almost smell someone who has something to hide."

Shortly thereafter, A. was already sitting opposite the suspect in a full-fledged 'field investigation': in the heart of the search, with a tank on each side.

"At first he was still 'playing innocent,' but as soon as he opened his mouth - it was impossible to stop him. He gave away all the operatives who were in the area, gave names and said which family each of them came from. When we entered the school with him, he explained to us exactly what was hidden between the classrooms, and when we left, he added to the dessert information about two tunnels and a rocket launch site in a nearby area, which he had seen with his own eyes."

That conversation between Capt. (res.) A. and the suspect, who turned out to be a Hamas terrorist himself, lasted only about three minutes. "At that moment, we closed the circle in front of the armored force, and within about two hours we 'stabbed' the launch points and tunnels, and destroyed them."

"The information was needed immediately," he goes on to explain, "after all, the attack won't wait for me to finish, it's happening now, and we need to be aware of every danger that lurks for us and the forces. Therefore, we don't have hours to argue, and the interaction with the interrogated person will be focused. Straightforward and to the point. We use various operational methods to get a person to talk."

Indeed, the information flowing from the interrogation of terrorists can sometimes change the operational plans and the way the force operates, immediately: "When, during an operation, an interrogator comes up with information about a booby-trapped room that the force is going to enter in exactly five minutes - this is something that changes the whole picture at that moment. The information goes through the company headquarters and the battalion commander of that force, who accordingly change the attack order and the way the room is opened."

In other cases, the interrogation can last for hours, as Capt. (res.) A. knows well. Every sentence uttered within the walls of the room can be the move that will reveal all the cards to him, or send him on a false chase: "There are Hamas members who have trained not to speak at all, or to blurt out what we 'want to hear.' That means they tell some things, but don't tell the whole truth."

And he speaks from experience. "I had an interrogation like this," the officer shares, "a kind of huge psychological game that took place around the room we were in, until in the end I managed to get out of the suspect everything he was hiding - valuable information that saved the lives of many soldiers." But even in cases that are difficult to crack, the 504th investigator is not alone in the battle.

"We arrive in the field in pairs, like in any combat unit," he emphasizes and details the differences between the two roles: "My pair is not an investigator like me, but is responsible for all the professional and operational vision on the battlefield. He is my back and eyes when I conduct an investigation, the one who covers me with fire and gives me the answer, I trust him 100 percent. The two of us join forces, raid and fight together."

To cross-reference and verify the information they have collected in the field, the investigators are assisted by a unique intelligence unit, a special intelligence unit, which works around the clock to direct and focus them on relevant vital information .

Another and equally important role that the special intelligence unit plays is to formulate a situational picture and the scope of ongoing activity in a certain area. For example, intelligence personnel know how to point out overlapping details that have emerged from two completely different investigations or to identify hidden trends.

Even after 2,500 people who have been interrogated, thousands of targets attacked, and tens of thousands of enemy detections identified (of which about 5,500 were produced during the last few months in the Jabaliya operation), it is important for Captain (res.) A. to clarify that there is never a hundred percent: "With all the information and experience we have gained, we manage to close circles on the information in the best possible way, but we must always take into account the fact that in this profession - there is no perfection."

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Sources: DiplNet - NewsRael - Officials