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Heavy losses inflict ‘dramatic manpower crisis’ on Israel

The Cradle | March 1, 2024

The Israeli military is demanding an addition of at least 7,000 soldiers to its forces due to a serious manpower crisis. 

The 7,000 are needed on top of the soldiers already enlisting, the Israeli army said on 1 March. 

“The army requires standards for another 7,500 officers and noncommissioned officers, while the Treasury currently approves only 2,500. These are unprecedented numbers, which indicate the shock that befell the IDF following almost 150 days of fighting, which began with heavy losses on 7 October,” Hebrew news site Ynet reported, citing the army’s General Staff. 

“The army is compiling the data that will explain how dramatic the manpower problem is,” it added. 

Just one day ago, Israel’s Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant, called to end draft exemptions for members of the ultra-Orthodox community. Gallant said he would only support legislation allowing for continued exemptions if all members of the ruling coalition backed it. 

The minister asserted that “all parts of society” must “bear the burden” of service.

Gallant’s position could result in tension with ultra-Orthodox parties in the coalition, viewed as integral to the current government’s survival, according to Hebrew media. 

However, the army’s demand for a boost in manpower “has nothing to do with politics or the demand for equal burden: The situation is simply not good and does not match the threat map,” Ynet wrote. 

Israel is taking severe losses in its genocidal war in Gaza and its attempt to eradicate the Palestinian resistance. 

While Israel claims that Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah is the final Hamas stronghold, the group’s military wing, along with several other factions, continue to fiercely confront Israeli troops across the strip. 

A source from within the resistance told Al-Mayadeen on Thursday that the Israeli army has been forced out of Gaza City’s Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, where it had been operating over the past eleven days in an attempt to clear out Hamas fighters. 

The source added that the neighborhood is a “graveyard” for Merkava tanks, and the “bloodied and torn” uniforms of Israeli soldiers are spread out across the battlefield. 

Clashes between the resistance and the army continued to rage on 1 March in several areas of Gaza, including the southern city of Khan Yunis and the Jabalia area in the northern strip. 

March 1, 2024 - Posted by | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Militarism | , ,

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