by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Israel is expanding the IDF’s Unit 504, part of the Military Intelligence Directorate, which specializes in HUMINT (human intelligence). Previously operating covertly, the unit’s critical role during the war has made its activities vital to the army’s success, leading to Tuesday’s announcement of its significant expansion.
The IDF announced the expansion of Unit 504, including the promotion of its commander to brigadier general, highlighting its critical role during the war. The military credited the unit with leading operations across multiple fronts, resulting in the arrest and interrogation of thousands of Hamas terrorists, as well as operatives from Hezbollah and the Syrian front.
“Throughout the war, Unit 504 operated intensively on various fronts and led the effort in which thousands of Hamas terrorists, as well as from Hezbollah and the Syrian front, were arrested and interrogated,” the IDF stated.
The IDF revealed that Unit 504 conducted surveillance missions leading to targeted strikes and managed agents in enemy states. During the war, it reopened a unit in the Gaza Strip—closed for over a decade—significantly increasing its workload. To support these operations, the IDF is recruiting additional officers to manage agents and prepare for special missions in enemy territory.
In peacetime, the highly secretive Unit 504 operates entirely under the radar. As the IDF’s human intelligence unit, it functions as the military’s counterpart to similar units within the Mossad and Shin Bet.
Unit 504’s motto, drawn from the Bible, is: “To explore and spy out the country and overthrow it,” 1 Chronicles 19:3 (NIV). Its emblem features a stylized depiction of the biblical 12 spies returning from Canaan, carrying a branch of grapes.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
As Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi insurgents continue to violently disrupt US, Israeli, and Western commercial shipping in the Middle East, the US military on January 8 carried out air strikes against two of the militant group’s weapons storage facilities in Yemen. The US suffered no injuries or damage to property in the operation.
The US-based Anti-Defamation League has reported there were over 10,000 antisemitic incidents in the United States after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel triggered the current war in Gaza.
Responding to US President-elect Donald Trump’s recent statement that he would not rule out military action to seize Greenland, an autonomous territory of EU member Denmark, France on Wednesday warned that Europe is “strong” and will not allow another nation to attack its “sovereign borders,” Reuters reports.
In an effort to become less reliant on the United States and other nations for heavy weapons, Israel has signed two major arms deals with Israeli munitions company Elbit Systems totaling $275 million, i24News reports.
Continuing a campaign of terror against Christians in northern Nigeria that has lasted over 18 years, Fulani militant herdsmen launched a fresh attack against believers in Kaduna state during a New Year’s Day dawn raid on Unguwar Rogo village, Kajuru County, Morning Star News (MSN) reports.
Archaeologists excavating in southern Israel have uncovered a unique Byzantine-era ((5th-6th centuries AD) mosaic floor with a Scripture from the Bible’s Book of Deuteronomy, the Times of Israel (TOI) reports.
The US Biden administration this week accused the Sudanese paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) of committing genocide against the people of Sudan amid the ongoing civil war in the country, BBC News reports.