<p >The Israeli Army’s Sayeret Golani special forces unit has been confirmed to have deployed to Agadir, northern Morocco, to participate in the U.S.-led&nbsp;African Lion 2025 military exercises. Images published from the exercises showed personnel from the elite unit posing for a group photo, holding both the Israeli flag and the flag of the Golani Brigade. A specialised forward patrol unit under the Golani Brigade, named after the Golan Heights that unit December 2024 were disputed with neighbouring Syria, Sayeret Golani personnel are trained for parachuting, demolitions, escape and evasion, survival, and intelligence work, and have a particularly rigorous selection process. The unit rose to international prominence after its participation in the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mideast-wars-medics-ambulances-killed-rafah-069ae07c011250d8a5cef7bdfc26f9df" target="_blank">massacre</a> of 15 paramedics, UN workers, and rescue personnel in the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip near the Egyptian border. The incident took place on March 23, 2025, and saw several humanitarian vehicles, including five ambulances and a fire truck, all destroyed, with the survivors buried in mass graves. This occurred five days after Israeli re-initiated hostilities in Gaza on March 18 following a brief ceasefire.&nbsp;</p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/23/article_6830921f5e15a8_65626407.jpg" title="Sayeret Golani Personnel in 2024 (Wiki Commons)"></p><p >Aid workers were reportedly executed individually after being apprehended, with bullet wounds to their heads and hearts eliminating them quickly. The victims were bound before execution, with some having their fingers broken and sustaining other injuries. Survivors of the massacre recalled being subjected to severe torture. The Golani Brigade was operating under the command of Israeli Army Brigadier General Yehuda Vach when it perpetrated the massacre. Critics of Israeli conduct in the war have alleged that the massacre reflects a broader trend towards the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-war-iran-hezbollah-lebanon-medical-workers-civil-defense-claim-targeted-directly/" target="_blank">persistent intentional targeting </a>of medical personnel by Israeli forces.&nbsp;The presence of the Golani Brigade in Morocco very shortly after the massacre has drawn further attention to the nature of Morocco’s longstanding defence partnership with Israel, which dates back to the 1960s when the kingdom <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/55-years-after-the-six-day-war-how-morocco-and-saudi-arabia-played-key-roles-in-helping-israel-win" >provided</a> key intelligence on Arab war plans to support Israeli efforts in the Six Day War.&nbsp;</p><p ><img src="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/m/articles/2025/05/23/article_683093fce0f365_15855517.jpg" title="Israeli Barak-MX Air Defence System Sold to Morocco"></p><p >Israel and its close strategic partner Turkey have been key supporters of Morocco in its ongoing cold conflict with neighbouring Algeria, as Algiers has been a leading supporter both of a self-proclaimed Palestinian state, and previously of the Syrian state before its <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/trump-comments-turkey-unfriendly-takeover-syria-proxy" target="_blank">overthrow</a> by Turkish, <a href="https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2019-02-03/ty-article-opinion/.premium/israel-just-admitted-arming-anti-assad-syrian-rebels-big-mistake/0000017f-dbb0-db5a-a57f-dbfa71380000" target="_blank">Israeli</a> and Western backed <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/new-intel-chief-slams-policy-syria" target="_blank">paramilitaries</a> in December 2024. U.S.-led exercises in Morocco have been viewed with concern in Algeria, and have at times involved simulated attacks on Algerian territory including training to neutralise modern air defence systems like to those <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/africa-air-defences-live-fire-algerian-s300" target="_blank">Algeria operates</a>. The Algerian state has&nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-confirms-su57-export-2025-algerian-worsening-threats" target="_blank">invested</a> very heavily in modernising the capabilities of its armed forces, with the&nbsp;<a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/ten-years-since-the-wests-war-against-libya-how-it-served-as-a-warning-regarding-us-and-european-intentions" >NATO assault</a>&nbsp;against its neighbour Libya in 2011, in which Turkey and Western-aligned Arab states such as Qatar and Jordan participated, having further heightened the perception of an imminent threat. Defence cooperation between Morocco, Turkey and Israel is expected to continue to increase, in particular as the quashing of the longstanding Syrian challenge to Turkish and Israeli interests in December 2024 has paved the way to a refocusing of attentions on other potential targets.&nbsp;</p>
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