IOF admits to three new soldiers dead
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Israeli occupation forces admit to three new troops being killed in Gaza, one of whom is a brigade's deputy commander and the other a company commander.
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Israeli occupation forces are seen at a staging area near the Gaza wall, in southern occupied Palestine, December 28, 2023. (AP)
The Israeli occupation forces on Friday admitted that three soldiers died and three others suffered critical injuries in the ongoing battles with the Palestinian Resistance in southern and central Gaza.
The Israeli occupation authorized the publication of the names of three soldiers who were killed in battles against the Resistance, including two senior officers and a soldier.
Reportedly, the soldiers declared dead were killed in action during two separate battles in Gaza's south and central districts.
The Israeli losses are on a steady uptick, as the IOF lost on Thursday two officers and a Sergeant First Class. The officers include a reserve Captain Neriya Zisk, a company commander in the 401st Armored Brigade's 52nd Battalion, and Major Dvir David Fima, the deputy commander of the 460th Armored Brigade's 198th Battalion.
This raises the number of killed Israeli soldiers to 501 since the start of the start of Operation al-Aqsa Flood, with 170 killed in action since the start of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip on October 27.
IOF: More than 5,000 soldiers assessed as wounded since Oct. 7
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 those with regular wounds, as reported by "Israel's" Ynet news website on December 9.
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 it would take some time before they are diagnosed.
Operation Al-Aqsa Flood: A watershed moment in restructuring Israeli society
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.
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