“The [Israeli] army needs 10,000 more soldiers immediately,” Gallant said in statements carried by Army Radio during a session of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
He said the army can recruit 4,800 soldiers from ultra-Orthodox males.
Last week, Israel’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled that ultra-Orthodox Jews must be subject to the military draft, after decades of being exempted from military service.
Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.
At least 37,900 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 87,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.
Human rights organizations have warned that thousands of people in the besieged enclave are facing the risk of famine amid ongoing Israeli devastating onslaught.
