IOF: More than 5,000 soldiers assessed as wounded since Oct. 7

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
9 Dec 2023 17:12
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The figure, recognized by the Israeli Security Ministry’s rehabilitation department, includes soldiers who are suffering both physical and mental injuries.

Israeli occupation forces crack down on Palestinians protesting against the establishment of Israeli outposts, in Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, on 4 November 2022. (AFP)

Each day, approximately 60 new injured Israeli soldiers are admitted to the rehabilitation department, which supports the wounded from the Israeli army and reserve forces. This figure does not account for the regularly wounded, as reported by "Israel's" Ynet news website.

The cumulative numbers since October 7 are "astronomical": more than 5,000 wounded Israeli soldiers have arrived at the hospitals, more than 2,000 have been officially recognized as disabled by the Israeli army and taken in by the Ministry of Security, and another 1,000 wounded are regular soldiers, and are therefore being treated by the Israeli occupation forces, as per Israeli media.

Limor Luria, the head of the rehabilitation department at the Ministry of Security, stressed that they have never been through anything even similar to this, adding that more than 58% of the wounded who are taken in by the ministry have sustained severe injuries to their hands and feet, including injuries that require amputations.

About 12% are internal injuries - Spleen, kidney, laceration of internal organs, she specified.

There are also head and eye injuries, and about 7% suffer from mental illnesses, a number that will skyrocket as they would take some time before they are diagnosed.

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In a similar context, the chairman of the IOF Disabled People's Organization, Attorney Idan Kaliman, stressed that there is a huge number of mentally ill Israeli soldiers, even before the wave of PTSD that will wash over in about a year.

Moreover, Loria explained that the Rehabilitation department is now accommodating, for the first time, a very large group of Israeli soldiers. She emphasized that this is something "we did not fully comprehend until now, and we will have to learn about it."

While "Israel" has been accommodating 60,000 disabled Israeli soldiers, with 50% of them classified as "third-generation descendants" and veterans of past wars, Loria concluded that the current war has "significantly changed the structure of Israeli society" and will impact all plans laid out by the "Israeli Disabled Veterans Organization" for the next year.