An Israeli soldier who recently returned from the Gaza Strip killed a friend in Tel Aviv, Israeli media reported on Saturday.
Israeli Channel 12 reported that “an Israeli soldier, recently returned from fighting in the Gaza Strip, killed his friend inside an apartment.”
It said the shooting had criminal implications and the perpetrator and victim were both 25 years old.
“The perpetrator was carrying a licensed weapon,” the report said, without providing further details about the incident and its circumstances.
Israeli media outlets have reported in recent months that thousands of soldiers who have been discharged after the war in Gaza are experiencing post-war trauma.
Gaza ‘Ghosts’ Hunt Israeli Soldiers in their Sleep – Israeli Media
Earlier this month, the Israeli website, Walla, published an investigation revealing that “symptoms of battle combat stress reaction have appeared on at least 1,600 Israeli soldiers since the start of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip about two months ago”.
Aside from Israeli soldiers, demand for mental health services “has been growing due to the Gaza war” and the system is facing collapse, according to a report published by Israeli newspaper Haaretz on December 31.
According to Haaretz, the situation is made even worse by the fact that “dozens of psychiatrists working in Israel’s public mental health system have left recently for Britain”.
Haaretz cited Dr. Shmuel Hirschmann, head of the Mental Health Center Directors’ Forum, as saying that “the system is short about 400 psychiatrists”.
1,600 Israeli Soldiers Suffer from Combat Stress as Mental Health System Faces Collapse
The Forum reportedly wrote a letter to the state comptroller on Thursday to address the issue. “We turn to you in desperation concerning the difficult situation of the mental health system in Israel,” the letter reportedly read.
Israel has relentlessly targeted the Gaza Strip since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 25,105 Palestinians have been killed, and 62,681 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7. Palestinian and international estimates say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
(PC, Anadolu)
