Israel army struggling with lack of soldiers

Israel’s Walla website reported that the Israeli occupation army is suffering from a shortage of soldiers and is seeking to form a new division to carry out various tasks.

The website added that the army will name the unit the “David Division” and it will include male and female soldiers who have reached exemption age, volunteers and members of the Haredim – ultra-Orthodox Jews who have until recently been exempt from military service – and thus the army may be able to recruit 40,000 fighters.

Walla quoted army sources saying that the soldiers may contribute to several tasks, including border security and fighting in a multi-front war in the future.

The Israeli website also reported that polls revealed that soldiers are critical of the state of uncertainty regarding the continuation of their service, their bearing a heavy burden and suffering fatigue.

There is also great anxiety among reserve soldiers due to fear of the repercussions that the continued fighting would have on their personal, family and work lives, it added.

In a related context, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that dozens of reserve soldiers announced that they would not return to military service in Gaza, even if they were to be punished.

This comes at a time when Israeli media reported that hundreds of reserve soldiers in the Israeli army have travelled abroad without informing their commanders due to the ongoing war on Gaza, where the occupation forces have suffered heavy losses over the past months.

Israeli army data indicated that the death toll in the Gaza Strip reached 666 soldiers and officers since the beginning of the war on 7 October, including 314 killed since the beginning of the ground offensive on 27 October.

Data also indicate that 3,922 officers and soldiers have been injured since the beginning of the war, including 1,997 in ground battles.

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