KAN mentioned that different battalions in other brigades have also voiced similar difficulties of combat in Gaza.

Twenty Israeli soldiers belonging to an infantry brigade have refused to return to the battlefield in the Gaza Strip with ten amongst them being notified that they will face trial if they refuse to obey military orders, as reported on Wednesday by the Israeli public broadcaster KAN.

According to the Anadolu news agency, KAN stated that the soldiers who received notifications Tuesday will face trial for defying military orders unless they return to combat in Gaza.

The channel reportedly quoted several Israeli soldiers as saying that they are unable to return following ten months of combat in the Strip but nonetheless are ready to assume other duties.

KAN mentioned that different battalions in other brigades have also voiced similar difficulties of combat in Gaza.

Families of Soldiers Come to the Defense

The Israeli public broadcaster quoted the families of some of the soldiers as saying that their sons “are forced to conduct ground maneuvers in Gaza or face prison.”

The families of soldiers reportedly expressed their disbelief and refusal over these measures and vowed to help their children challenge the system.

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“There are only a few soldiers left in their company who are capable of fighting,” This is our time as parents to help them confront a system that does not care about them,” the families were quoted as saying.

An Israeli army spokesperson, for his part, assured that military leaders are exerting all efforts “to support and assist soldiers in fulfilling their various operational tasks.”

The Israeli spokesperson declared that no disciplinary measure, imprisonment included, will be taken against the soldiers.

Shortage in Soldiers

In July, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced that the Israeli army urgently needs 10,000 additional soldiers amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

“The army needs 10,000 more soldiers immediately,” Gallant stated, according to Army Radio, during a session of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

He mentioned that the army could recruit 4,800 soldiers from ultra-Orthodox males.

This follows last week’s unanimous ruling by Israel’s Supreme Court that ultra-Orthodox Jews must be subject to the military draft, ending decades of their exemption from service.

Meanwhile, Israeli Channel 12 reported that the army has recently recognized a crisis among the command ranks, with a notable trend of officers in the ranks of captain and major leaving their posts.

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The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth revealed in August that the names of tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers are listed among those killed and wounded in the ongoing war on Gaza.

According to the report, “no less than 10,000 soldiers, who were killed or wounded during the long months of fighting in the Gaza Strip, are missing from the IDF today.”

The newspaper also revealed that approximately a thousand soldiers “join the ranks of the physically and mentally wounded,” as recorded by the rehabilitation department of the Israeli Ministry of Security.

Despite these alarming figures, both the Knesset and the government have pushed forward with the reformulation and passage of a law to extend compulsory military service, reportedly leaving regular soldiers in a state of significant frustration and uncertainty.

Since the war began last year, approximately 900 officers have requested to review the release of their contracts.

This crisis has several contributing factors, with the events of October 7 being a notable one. Officers have reported feeling underappreciated and delegitimized by the public and some politicians.

Ongoing Genocide

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 40,602 Palestinians have been killed, and 93,855 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.

Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.

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Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.

 The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety. 

(PC, Anadolu)