6 Suicides Eke Mental Health Crisis in Israeli Army

At least six Israeli soldiers have taken their own lives in recent months, the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth revealed on Friday, citing severe psychological distress caused by prolonged wars in the Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon as the primary cause.

The investigation suggests the actual number of suicides may be higher, as the Israeli military has yet to release official figures, despite a promise to disclose them by the end of the year.

The report highlights a broader mental health crisis within the Israeli army. Thousands of soldiers have sought help from military mental health clinics or field psychologists, with approximately a third of those affected showing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

According to the investigation, the number of soldiers suffering psychological trauma may exceed those with physical injuries from the war.

The daily cites experts as saying the full extent of this mental health crisis will become clear once military operations are completed and troops return to normal life.

In March, Lucian Tatsa-Laur, head of the Israeli military’s mental health department, told Haaretz that approximately 1,700 soldiers had received psychological treatment.

Multiple reports have since emerged indicating that thousands of troops are suffering from mental health issues owing to extended deployments in Gaza and southern Lebanon.

Regional tension has escalated due to Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, which has killed over 44,000 people, mostly women and children, since a Hamas attack last year.

The second year of the genocide in Gaza has drawn growing international condemnation, with figures and institutions labeling the attacks and blocking of aid deliveries as a deliberate attempt to destroy a population.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its deadly war on Gaza.

In a landmark move, the International Criminal Court on Thursday announced it had issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes in Palestinian territories, including Gaza.

The conflict has spread to Lebanon, with Israel launching deadly strikes across the country in an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of the Gaza war.

CrossFireArabia

CrossFireArabia

Dr. Marwan Asmar holds a PhD from Leeds University and is a freelance writer specializing on the Middle East. He has worked as a journalist since the early 1990s in Jordan and the Gulf countries, and been widely published, including at Albawaba, Gulf News, Al Ghad, World Press Review and others.

Related Posts

Israeli Violates The ‘Gaza Ceasefire’ 10 Times

For the 237th consecutive day, Israeli occupation forces continue to violate the fragile ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.

They are committing further attacks and violations across the besieged territory since the ceasefire that was signed on 10 October, 2025.

Since dawn, Wednesday, the Israeli occupation forces committed 10 new violations of the so-called “Gaza truce,” including artillery shelling, gunfire, and the demolition of homes and civilian infrastructure, particularly in the eastern areas of Khan Younis.

Eight demolition operations targeting civilian homes were carried out in that area as Khan Younis lies in the southern Gaza Strip. The occupation forces also shelled these areas multiple times.

Read also: Highest number of martyrs since the beginning of the year… 199 martyrs in Gaza last month

Israeli military vehicles fired heavily towards the eastern part of Khan Younis, coinciding with gunfire from Israeli warships in the sea off the city, in the southern Gaza Strip.

The occupation forces also targeted the eastern part of Gaza City with artillery fire. Meanwhile, a correspondent for Sanad News Agency said that gunfire and artillery shelling from occupation vehicles, coinciding with the dropping of bombs from “quadcopter” warplanes, targeted the homes of residents east of the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City.

Continue reading
Price of Israel’s War in Lebanon

Women and girls in Lebanon are paying an increasingly devastating price as violence and displacement continue despite a ceasefire, the UN reproductive health agency (UNFPA) warned on Tuesday.

Heightened tensions in Beirut and intensified attacks in southern Lebanon have pushed families into fear and uncertainty, forcing many to make impossible choices in search of safety.  

Healthcare centres struck

Over the weekend, airstrikes damaged a UNFPA-supported primary healthcare centre and women and girls’ safe space in southern Lebanon, one of the few facilities still providing critical services in the area, the agency’s Representative in Lebanon Anandita Philipose told reporters in New York via video link from Beirut.

Another strike damaged a public hospital offering maternal healthcare. Among those displaced are an estimated 13,500 pregnant women, including 1,500 expected to give birth in the next 30 days.

UNFPA warned that around 1,500 women remain trapped in southern Lebanon without reliable access to skilled care or safe delivery spaces.

When maternity wards and hospitals are damaged and destroyed, it is pregnant women who cannot get life-saving services,” Ms. Philipose said.

Unsafe shelters

She also raised alarm over deteriorating conditions in shelters.

Safety assessments found overcrowding, poor lighting, lack of privacy and unsafe sanitation facilities, conditions that increase risks of gender-based violence, particularly for adolescent girls, female-headed households, pregnant women and people with disabilities.

UNFPA continues to provide mobile maternal health services, psychosocial support and protection assistance alongside local partners and Lebanese authorities.

Call for funding

But without immediate and sustained funding, the humanitarian consequences could deepen rapidly, Ms. Philipose warned.

The agency’s initial emergency appeal is only 30 per cent funded, and it is now seeking $25 million to continue operations through August.

If funding continues to fall short, thousands of pregnant women could lose access to skilled birth attendance and emergency maternal healthcare, and mobile teams serving hard-to-reach communities may be forced to scale back or stop operations entirely, Ms. Philopose said.

Scaling down our operations means cutting off more than 75,000 women from critical gender-based violence protection, case management, and safe spaces at the exact moment that they need it the most.UN News

Continue reading

You Missed

Israeli Violates The ‘Gaza Ceasefire’ 10 Times

Israeli Violates The ‘Gaza Ceasefire’ 10 Times

Price of Israel’s War in Lebanon

Price of Israel’s War in Lebanon

Gaza’s Dead Mounts Despite Ceasefire

Gaza’s Dead Mounts Despite Ceasefire

In The Grip of Starvation: Israel Will Not Let Gaza Rest!

In The Grip of Starvation: Israel Will Not Let Gaza Rest!

Trump to Netanyahu: ‘You’re crazy. If it weren’t for me, you’d be in jail’ – Axios

Trump to Netanyahu: ‘You’re crazy. If it weren’t for me, you’d be in jail’ – Axios

Israeli Capitan Killed, 7 Soldiers Injured in Lebanon

Israeli Capitan Killed, 7 Soldiers Injured in Lebanon