JAKARTA - There has been severe psychological trauma among Israeli military personnel as a result of the conflict in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli sources, causing suicide of a number of its personnel since the latest conflict broke out in October 2023.
The sources confirmed that at least 43 Israeli army personnel had committed suicide due to war-related mental health problems since October 7, 2023, according to Al Jazeera, as reported by IRNA July 8.
Israeli sources have reported an increase in suicide rates among Israeli soldiers.
The latest cases are Daniel Edri, a 24-year-old soldier in charge of transporting the bodies of soldiers killed on the front lines in Lebanon and Gaza, who committed suicide due to psychological trauma.
In line with that, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, citing various sources, wrote the Israeli army, due to a shortage of personnel, recruiting individuals with mental illness from reserve forces to fight in Gaza.
The Israeli military, which faces labor shortages and increased suicide of soldiers, called on troops suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), he added.
Israel's Ministry of Homeland Security previously announced that 9,000 Israeli soldiers had been mentally disabled since October 7, 2023.
Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers did not disclose the number of suicides among their soldiers this year, and since the war Gaza began many bodies have been buried without military funerals.
An Israeli soldier said the military commander gave soldiers two choices of trauma: suicide or desertion.
Meanwhile, a military commander also told Haaretz thousands of reserve soldiers in Gaza were suffering from psychological disorders. The Israeli military was forced to send people to a mentally unstable battlefield, he added.
"There is no choice but to recruit individuals who suffer from psychological illness, even those who are undergoing treatment," he said.
Earlier, Kan 11 Israel reported that the military had recruited 800 psychiatrists and used mental health counseling centers to try to control the crisis.
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According to the Palestinian Sama news agency Yair Lapid, member Knesset and opposition leader said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent Israeli soldiers to Khan Younis and Jenin to be killed, while opposing the recruitment of Haredi Jews.
Meanwhile, Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the Yisrael Beiteinu Party, said soldiers killed in recent months were sacrificed to defend the ruling coalition.
He added that the Israeli cabinet prevented an agreement for the release of prisoners.
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