Report: The Israeli army suffers from a shortage of soldiers and equipment with most of its personnel face psychological difficulties and depression
The Israeli army is suffering from a shortage of soldiers and military equipment, and most of its reserve personnel are facing psychological difficulties and depression.
This came in a report published by the Israeli Army Radio on Tuesday evening, in which Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir announced his intention to reduce reserve forces by 30 percent in the coming months due to their suffering from a heavy burden.
The Israeli Army radio station reported that “the commander of a reserve company in one of the Gaza brigades requested to terminate his service due to his exhaustion and his wife’s threats of divorce”.
The report explained that the army is suffering from severe exhaustion among its reserve forces after approximately 655 days of war on the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Army Radio reported that reserve soldiers were absent from military service, explaining that “the attendance rate in some reserve companies doesn’t exceed 50%, while soldiers suffer from significant academic, professional, and family pressures”.
The report stressed that most reserve soldiers suffer from psychological difficulties and become depressed or otherwise distressed.
In addition to the human element, the army suffers from a clear shortage of military equipment, especially tanks and armored personnel carriers, some of which is out of service, according to the report.
The report said, “There’re those at the political level who insist on turning a blind eye to the army’s real condition and demanding that it continue to advance”.
In this regard, the Israeli Maariv newspaper, reported on Monday that for the first time, the IDF has admitted that its forces are severely depleted, and estimates that its short of approximately 7,500 soldiers.
The Israeli newspaper also reported that battalion commanders spoke of a heavy workload, and many of them announced their interest in retirement.
On an almost daily basis, Palestinian factions in Gaza, most notably the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, announce operations documented with video and audio footage, in which they killed and wounded Israeli soldiers during ground battles.
As of Tuesday evening, 894 Israeli soldiers had been killed and 6,110 wounded since the start of the war on Gaza, according to military data, which faces local accusations of concealing even greater losses.
Israel imposes strict censorship on the publication of its losses in Gaza and conceals the true death toll, suggesting that the reported numbers are likely to rise.
