Haaretz: Huge rise in suicides among the Israeli soldiers after Gaza war
Official statements issued by the Israeli army showed a sharp rise in suicide rates among Israeli soldiers since the outbreak of the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, amid increasing psychological pressures caused by the fighting.
According to the data, 7 soldiers on active duty committed suicide from October 7 until the end of 2023, while 21 suicides were recorded among soldiers during 2024.
From the beginning of 2025 to date, at least 20 soldiers have committed suicide.
Before the war, the average number of suicides among Israeli soldiers was only about 12, reflecting a nearly doubling of rates over the past two years.
The Israeli army attributes this increase to the significant expansion of the deployment of forces, including reserve forces, in addition to the exposure of many soldiers to heavy fighting inside Gaza.
Military sources say that internal analysis shows a decline in suicides linked to purely personal circumstances, while an increase in cases that are likely to result from stressful combat experiences or trauma on the ground.
On Thursday, Israeli Haaretz newspaper reported that an Israeli reserve officer from the Givati Brigade committed suicide after a psychological struggle that affected him following his participation in the war of extermination on the Gaza Strip.
The newspaper reported that the soldier, Tomas Adzgauska, (28), was discharged from service in 2024 due to his psychological injury and was undergoing procedures for being recognized as suffering from post-combat trauma.
His body was found in a park in the city of Ashdod, after he left a post in which he said: “I am no longer able, I’ve committed unforgivable things, there is a devil that has been chasing me since October 7… Please forget me”.
Haaretz indicates that he has been suffering from psychological distress for about two years and is receiving psychological and drug treatment.
Specialists believe that the case of soldier Tomas Adzgauska isn’t an individual case, but rather an example of the widening circle of mental disorders among soldiers who participated in the Gaza war, in light of the continuation of operations and increasing field and moral pressures.
Families of former soldiers and therapists continue to warn that the official figures don’t fully reflect reality, with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treating groups estimating that the number of actual suicides is much higher, particularly among demobilized soldiers whose cases aren’t counted in direct military statistics.
According to Haaretz, at least 15 demobilized soldiers have committed suicide since the outbreak of the war due to service-related psychological problems, and five policemen committed suicide during the same period.
Many of these cases remain in the shadows and aren’t officially recognized as service victims.
