Israel has started calling up soldiers who were previously exempted from service for reserve duty as they grapple with a lack of manpower as they continue to wage war in Gaza.
According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) is currently calling up for service 15,000 Israelis as old as 35 who carried out their mandatory military service when they were 18 but were then exempted from additional reserve service. They are planning to call these soldiers to reserve duty in three phases.
In a statement, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant explained: “The defense minister has instructed to recall reservists who received exemptions from service in the past due to force reductions and are still within the age range requiring service.”
He added that those who are deemed suitable for reinstatement can expect to be assigned to units in line with the IDF’s “operational needs.”
Yuli Edelstein, the chairman of the Knesset's – the Israeli parliament – Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, announced they would be advancing a bill that would permit the conscription of reservists who were exempted from service in the past up to the age of 40.
The Israeli government also recently voted in favor of a bill that will lengthen the mandatory military service period for male soldiers to three years, with the male soldiers who enlist during the next five years being required to serve for 36 months. This means the order will cover a span of eight years.
In June, the government raised the number of reservists the Israeli army can call up from 300,000 to 350,000 amid rising tensions with Hezbollah along the northern border.
The war in Gaza has seen the IDF calling up more than 287,000 reservists so far in what has become the biggest call-up of reservists in the history of the Jewish state.
More than 10,000 Israeli soldiers have been injured
According to the Israeli Ministry of Defense’s rehabilitation department, more than 10,000 soldiers have been injured during the 10-month war in Gaza, which equates to more than 1,000 being injured every month. Around 3,700 of these soldiers are suffering from limb injuries, while 690 have spinal cord injuries, 168 have eye injuries, 192 have head injuries, and 50 have undergone amputations. Israeli reports claim nearly 700 soldiers, officers and reservists have been killed during the war so far.
Troops are also reportedly suffering from fatigue and stress as political tensions persist in Israel over the unpopular war, which is widely considered genocide against Palestinians.
According to The Jerusalem Post, 10,000 reservists have requested mental health support, while thousands of reservists have lost their jobs and 70,000 have suffered academically as a result of their service.
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza
Meanwhile, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in the war so far, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which amounts to roughly one out of every 55 Gazans. More than 92,000 people have been injured, and the enclave is suffering from a humanitarian catastrophe, with a lack of medical supplies, food, and water.
The war shows no signs of slowing down, with Hezbollah launching dozens of rockets and drones toward northern Israel on Wednesday and Hamas and Israel all but admitting that a pause in fighting is not in the cards any time soon.
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