Direct proof of use
An IDF-released photograph hosted on Wikimedia Commons identifies an Israel Defense Forces soldier from the Golani Brigade firing an IMI Negev 5 in Gaza in 2025. The file page dates the image to 3 June 2025 and lists the source as the IDF Telegram channel, with the IDF Spokesperson's Unit as the releasing body.
The corresponding IDF article published on 3 June 2025 places the Golani Brigade combat team under the 36th Division in southern Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. The article describes recent Golani operations against above-ground and underground infrastructure in that area; it does not separately name the Negev, so the weapon identification rests on the Commons file metadata for the released image.
Sources: File:Operation Gideon's Chariots 11.webp, IDF Golani Khan Younis body-camera article
Documented role
The documented role is Israeli squad automatic or light machine-gun fire support during ground operations in Gaza. IWI's NG5 product data identifies the weapon as a 5.56 NATO Negev light machine gun with belt, drum, and STANAG magazine feeding, open-bolt automatic operation, and an 18-inch barrel.
The available public evidence for this detail page supports possession and battlefield firing by an IDF Golani soldier in Gaza. It does not establish a complete inventory, rate of issue, named engagement outcome, or whether the specific photographed weapon was a current-production NG5 variant rather than an earlier 5.56 mm Negev family gun.
Sources: File:Operation Gideon's Chariots 11.webp, NEGEV NG5 5.56 NATO - Versatile & Light Machine Gun | IWI US
Operational context
The 2023 Israel-Hamas War began on 7 October 2023, and CFR's conflict tracker describes Israel's full-scale invasion of the Gaza Strip from 27 October 2023 with later operations in Khan Younis, Rafah, and other areas. The June 2025 Golani imagery falls within the later Gaza ground-campaign period.
The source-backed use case is therefore narrow but direct: Israeli infantry carried and fired a 5.56 mm Negev light machine gun in Gaza during the war. The evidence separates the public image proof of the weapon from broader conflict chronology and official IDF reporting on the unit's southern Khan Younis activity.
Sources: CFR Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Tracker, IDF Golani Khan Younis body-camera article, File:Operation Gideon's Chariots 11.webp
