The Israeli army published, Thursday, January 2, data on losses suffered for the years 2023 and 2024. It announced that 921 Israeli soldiers lost their lives during this period. While at least 891 soldiers have been killed since the attacks of October 7, 2023, the number of suicides has also reached a 13-year record.
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With our correspondent in Jerusalem, Michael Paul
Hamas’ surprise attack on villages surrounding the Gaza Strip, as well as on military bases, caused numerous casualties within the State Army.Israel : 329 soldiers died during the deadly events that occurred that day. Then, after the start of the Israeli army’s ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, 390 soldiers died during the fighting in the Palestinian enclave.
The conflict with the Lebanon also caused losses. On both sides of the border, 37 soldiers were killed on the northern front, whether due to fighting with the Hezbollahbut also as a result of rocket attacks and drone attacks. The army still says that 11 soldiers died in the West Bank during the same period, the highest number of losses on the home front outside of the actual combat zones.
But this report also notes an increase in cases of soldier suicide: at least 38 of them took their own lives in 2023-2024, a record number for 13 years. The reasons for these suicides were not indicated; the document only states that they are not necessarily related to the war. The army notably attributes this high number in part to the massive mobilization of reservists.
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