Israeli Soldiers Experience Moral Decline Due to Unclear Missions in Gaza and High Levels of Fear

Israeli military in the Gaza Strip. (Source: IDF)

Israel - The Israeli military is facing a moral collapse among soldiers amid high levels of fear, a reserve officer said, as Israel continued its war in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

"I don't want to write about the difficulties of repeated reserve duty or about the damage it causes to one's body and soul, although these important topics should be discussed more often," the officer, who did not give his name, said in a letter published by the newspaper Haaretz, reported Anadolu (8/7).

"Instead, I want to discuss values, an issue I unfortunately face when I witness the moral decline that is happening within the military. Morality is the core of our human nature and our relationship with God," he explained.

The officer, who identified himself as the commander of a unit on reserve duty in Gaza, said the military was fighting in "a continuous trench warfare that never ends."

"The purpose of our mission is no longer clear, not even defined, so we don't have criteria to measure success," he said.

"Because we are on a defensive mission, there is a high level of vigilance and fear of enemies that may surprise us. This mindset causes many moral dilemmas," he said.

The Israeli officer said that the level of alertness since the October 7 incident led the soldiers to shoot every Palestinian who approached them.

"Sometimes the shooting is justified, sometimes not. In any case, the shooting occurs because soldiers on the front lines feel threatened or unsafe," he said.

"The heat of the sun, the exhaustion, and the sense of futility reinforce this feeling even when it is unfounded. Although it is easy to judge them harshly while sitting in an air-conditioned office at the headquarters in Tel Aviv, we must admit that these feelings exist," he said.

The officer admitted that killing so many unarmed people had taken a toll on the soldiers.

"It weighs on me," he said.

Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed more than 73,000 people in Gaza and injured more than 173,000 others in the deadly war that has devastated the entire region.

"Now, everything is allowed, and we are too easy to press the trigger," an Israeli officer said.

"The rule of unlimited involvement guarantees that no Gazan will reach the border fence, but it is increasingly having a negative impact on us, on our values, and on our mental state," he concluded.