Israel to end year with 12k disabled soldiers: Analyst

Speaking to Israeli 103FM radio on Wednesday, military analyst Yossi Yehoshua said the Israeli army had already lost “a considerable number” of soldiers and commanders, in addition to thousands injured.

Yehoshua was commenting on the incident on Tuesday that left two soldiers killed and seven others injured in battles in northern Gaza.

He added that based on the numbers and figures of casualties in the Israeli army, the country “will end the year with 12,000 disabled soldiers.”

Early on Wednesday, the Israeli army announced that two more soldiers were killed and seven others seriously wounded in battles with Palestinian fighters in northern Gaza.

The Israeli army also reported on Tuesday that 13 soldiers were injured in battles across the Gaza Strip in one day.

At least 242 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the start of the Israeli ground operation on Oct. 27, while the death toll of the Israeli army since the launch of the Israeli onslaught against Gaza on Oct. 7 has risen to 582.

According to Israeli unofficial figures, a total of 2,988 Israeli soldiers have been injured since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza on Oct. 7, including 472 soldiers injured since Oct. 27.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed nearly 30,000 Palestinians and injured over 70,000 with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.