These revealing images offer a unique insight into the training of a female-dominated Israeli army battalion tasked with patrolling the restless Egyptian border.

Caracal Battalion, the country’s first to have male and female soldiers fighting side by side, is formed of between 60 and 70 percent women.

The pictures show soldiers practicing as part of their daily combat training in the village of Nitzana, western Israel.

Based in the Negev Desert, the battalion was formed in 2000 following mounting public pressure to allow women to serve in combat positions within the Israeli armed forces.

The unit was named after the caracal, a desert cat that is mainly found across Africa, Central Asia, Southwest Asia and India, whose gender is barely distinguishable.

The girls volunteer to become combat soldiers after conscription — military service is compulsory for all Israeli citizens — and must go through two days of mental examination and physical challenges before joining, since the course is strenuous and identical to that of any exclusively male battalion.

According to the Israel Defence Forces blog, the unit patrols the border with Egypt, protecting it from “smugglers, infiltrators and terrorists.”