Maglan soldiers identified a suspicious building from which several 122‑mm Grad rockets had been launched toward central Israel, but the entrance was rigged with explosives and the interior was believed to contain additional traps.

By Hezy Laing

One of the most unusual field improvisations of the Gaza war occurred when a team from Maglan, the IDF’s elite special operations unit under the 98th Paratroopers Division, used a children’s remote‑controlled toy car to locate a concealed rocket launcher hidden inside a booby‑trapped structure.

The incident took place in late December 2023 during operations in Shejaiya, an area known for dense tunnel networks and concealed firing positions used by Hamas, a U.S.‑ and EU‑designated terrorist organization responsible for extensive violence and civilian harm.

Maglan soldiers identified a suspicious building from which several 122‑mm Grad rockets had been launched toward central Israel, but the entrance was rigged with explosives and the interior was believed to contain additional traps.

According to news reports, confirmed by the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, the team’s commander, a reservist major whose name was not released for security reasons, suggested using a toy RC car purchased earlier by one of the soldiers at a kiosk near the staging area.

The team attached a small helmet‑mounted camera to the plastic vehicle using tape and zip ties, creating an improvised reconnaissance platform capable of entering the structure without risking soldiers’ lives.

The RC car was driven through a narrow opening in the wall, and the live video feed revealed a concealed multi‑barrel rocket launcher positioned behind sandbags and wired to a remote‑detonation system.

The footage also showed secondary explosives placed along the floor, confirming that the building had been prepared as a lethal ambush for any entering force.

Once the launcher was identified, Maglan coordinated with an engineering unit and an IAF precision‑strike cell, which destroyed the launcher using a guided munition without causing structural collapse to adjacent civilian homes.

The IDF later released portions of the video, and senior officers praised the team for combining discipline with creativity, noting that Maglan has a long history of field innovation dating back to its founding in 1986 under the command of Col. Amos Ben‑Avraham.

The RC‑car incident quickly became one of the most widely shared examples of Israeli reservists adapting commercial technology to battlefield conditions, demonstrating how improvisation can save lives even in the most dangerous urban environments.