8,663 Israel soldiers sought psychological, physical treatment since 7 October - report

Some 8,663 Israeli soldiers have arrived in psychological and physical rehabilitation departments since the outbreak of the Israeli aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip on 7 October, official data revealed on Monday.

The Israeli Knesset [parliament] said, in a statement, that the Defence Ministry submitted the data to the parliamentary State Audit Committee, explaining that the most common injuries are to the extremities at a rate of 42 per cent, followed by mental and post-traumatic reactions at 21 per cent, internal injuries at 9 per cent, spinal injuries at 7 per cent, ears at 8 per cent and eyes at 2 per cent, without clarifying the percentages of the rest of the injuries.

The Knesset continued, “35 per cent of the wounded, who are being treated in the rehabilitation ward, suffer from psychological harm.”

Friends of Eliran Mizrahi, a soldier who had committed suicide due to post-traumatic stress after long service in Gaza, spoke before the Committee, according to the statement.

Committee Chairman, MK Mickey Levy, said, “a country that sends its soldiers into battle must know how to take care of them when they return, and not abandon them as soon as they lay down their weapons.”

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He added: “I know that mental health centres have been established, and that the Defence Ministry and the rehabilitation department are doing everything in their power to provide assistance to everyone who needs it, but we have to understand that this is a time bomb.”

According to the army, 662 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 3,848 others have been wounded since the beginning of the war on Gaza, while the army is facing accusations of concealing a larger toll.

The Israeli Occupation Forces continue their war on Gaza, ignoring the UN Security Council resolutions to immediately stop it, and the orders of the International Court of Justice to end the invasion of Rafah (south), and to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and improve the dire humanitarian situation in the Strip.

Tel Aviv is also defying the request of International Criminal Court Prosecutor, Karim Khan, to issue arrest warrants against Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and its Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant for “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” in Gaza.

The Israeli aggression on Gaza has left more than 122,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of dozens, most of them children.

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