The army “lacks over 10,000 soldiers, including about 6,000 combat soldiers. This is a genuine operational need, and that’s why we’re taking all necessary steps”, army spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a televised news conference when asked about the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews into the army.
It came as, according to the Israeli Army Radio, 866 Israeli soldiers have now been killed in the besieged enclave since October 7, 2023.
The military wing of Hamas warned on Friday that Israeli army’s recent losses in Khan Younis and Jabalia are merely a preview of what awaits its forces throughout the Gaza Strip.
“The losses suffered by the occupation army today in Khan Younis (south) and Jabalia (north) are just a continuation of a series of high-level operations,” Abu Obaida, the spokesman of Al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement, emphasizing that “this is a model of what the occupation forces will face wherever they are present.”
Addressing Israelis, he urged them to pressure their leadership to stop the war in Gaza, “or prepare to receive more of their sons in coffins.”
Israel has continued its offensive in Gaza since October 2023, killing more than 54,000 Palestinians, creating conditions of famine and rendering the enclave uninhabitable.
