Haaretz Archives - Page 2 of 7

1000s of Israeli Soldiers Abandon Combat in Gaza

CrossFireArabia
September 15, 2025

Israel’s top army general has accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of withholding decisions on the war in Gaza, as new reports indicate thousands of Israeli soldiers have abandoned combat service since the genocidal assault on the enclave began, according to Israeli media.

According to the Anadolu news agency, the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Monday that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir told the Knesset’s intelligence subcommittee last week that Netanyahu had not provided clear instructions on the army’s next steps in Gaza, the report said.

“The prime minister doesn’t tell us what comes next, so we don’t know what to prepare for,” the newspaper quoted Zamir as saying.

He added that if the government intends to impose a military administration in Gaza, “they should state it openly.”

GHF Criticized

Zamir also criticized the US-backed aid distribution scheme run by the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, calling it a “failure.”

Despite the expansion of distribution centers from four to 12, Zamir questioned why Israel was enlarging a program that “did not work in the first place.”

https://www.palestinechronicle.com/anti-islamic-us-biker-gang-overseeing-security-at-gaza-aid-sites-report/embed/#?secret=J1cTTaPoxH#?secret=hDpx5qxlBD

“I don’t understand why they are spending money on it and increasing the number of aid centers to 12, if it failed when there were four,” he is quoted by Haaretz as saying.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli attacks on aid seekers at distribution sites have killed more than 2,400 Palestinians and wounded over 18,000.

Morale Crisis

Meanwhile, Haaretz reported that the army is facing an unprecedented morale crisis, with thousands of conscripts leaving frontline units since October 2023. Many were reassigned to non-combat duties or discharged altogether, with officers admitting the scale of withdrawals is without precedent, Anadolu cited the paper as reporting.

Testimonies collected by Haaretz described deep psychological scars among troops, including post-traumatic stress and what military counselors call “moral injuries”- trauma from actions that conflict with personal values. Soldiers spoke of accidental killings of children, snipers ordered to fire on civilians near aid convoys, and repeated suicide attempts in combat brigades.

While the army’s spokesperson has withheld official figures, senior officers told Haaretz the problem is “out of control.”

The Jerusalem Post reported on Monday that the Hostages and Missing Families Forum have demanded a meeting with Zamir over “the threat” that the operation in Gaza City poses to the captives held in the enclave.

20,000 Wounded Soldiers

On Monday, Haaretz reported that around 20,000 soldiers injured in the Gaza onslaught “are being treated by the Defense Ministry Rehabilitation Division, with 55 percent – roughly 10,700 – struggling with mental health issues.”

Citing the Defense Ministry, the paper said” 20 percent of those with mental health issues were also physically wounded, while 45 percent of the veterans registered with the division are dealing with physical injuries only.”

By 2028, the division estimates it will treat “100,000 injured veterans, including 50,000 with mental health injuries.”

Ongoing Genocide

Starting on October 7, 2023, the Israeli military, with American support, launched a genocidal war against the people of Gaza. This campaign has so far resulted in the deaths of more than 64,900 Palestinians, with more than 164,000 wounded. The vast majority of the population has been displaced, and the destruction of infrastructure is unprecedented since World War II. Thousands of people are still missing.

In addition to the military assault, the Israeli blockade has caused a man-made famine, leading to the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians—mostly children—with hundreds of thousands more at risk.

Despite widespread international condemnation, little has been done to hold Israel accountable. The nation is currently under investigation for genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, are officially wanted by the International Criminal Court as reported in the Palestine Chronicle.

News

Israel Has ‘No Idea of What to Do in Gaza’

CrossFireArabia
August 17, 2025

Israel’s military said Saturday it is preparing to forcibly move Palestinians from Gaza City to the southern part of the enclave, as part of its broader plan to reoccupy the Gaza Strip, a move that has drawn widespread international criticism.

Army spokesman Avichay Adraee claimed in a statement that starting Sunday, the army would resume allowing the entry of tents and shelter equipment for Palestinians displaced by nearly two years of war.

He alleged the supplies would be brought in “under the supervision of the United Nations and international relief agencies” through the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza after “thorough inspections.” Neither the UN nor aid groups have issued immediate comment.

The announcement came a day after Israeli media, including public broadcaster KAN, reported that the army was preparing to accelerate its offensive aimed at capturing Gaza City. Haaretz and Yedioth Ahronoth said army forces received orders to get ready for a full-scale ground incursion, though not before September.

“The Israeli claims about providing civilians with tents are nothing but a blatant attempt to whitewash the crime of mass forced displacement it has been committing since the start of the genocide in Gaza,” Ismail Thawbteh, director of the Government Media Office in Gaza, told Anadolu.

He warned that the area the Israeli army intends to designate for these tents to house the displaced civilians could become “a new blood trap,” similar to what happened in al-Mawasi area west of Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza, where more than 1.5 million people were herded in recent months.

“The forced displacement of civilians under occupation constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity under the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.”

Thawbteh said the planned transfer of civilians is part of a “systematic policy to empty Gaza of its residents and replace the right of voluntary and safe return with an imposed reality of tents and isolated areas.”

On Wednesday, Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir approved what he called the “central idea” of Israel’s reoccupation plan, including an assault on the Zeitoun neighborhood in southern Gaza City, where the army’s 99th Division has already been deployed.

Last week, Israel’s Security Cabinet endorsed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to fully reoccupy Gaza, triggering international outrage and domestic protests that warned it amounted to a “death sentence” for Israeli captives held in the enclave.

The plan envisions starting with the takeover of Gaza City by displacing nearly 1 million residents to the south, surrounding the city, and then carrying out raids into its neighborhoods. A second phase would involve retaking refugee camps in central Gaza, much of which has already been reduced to rubble.

The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal war in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, killing 61,900 Palestinians.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

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

News

Why Are Israeli Soldiers Committing Suicide?

CrossFireArabia
July 14, 2025

The number of Israeli soldier committing suicide after serving in Gaza is going up at alarming rates. Just last Thursday a soldier soldier took a gun to his head and fired point-blank.

The incident was at the Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel. The soldier had just returned from fighting in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that the soldier was a member of the notorious Golani Brigade that has been fighting in Gaza soon after 7 October, 2023 and who was being questioned by the Israeli military police for bloody incidents carried out in Gaza.

He had come to the military base for a rest from the fighting but soon found out the military police were waiting for him according to Haaretz.

Its rare to investigate soldiers committing atrocities in Gaza but a probe was opened against him a month ago where it was reported that his commanders decided to confiscate his weapon.

On the night of the incident shooting he slowly took the gun of his friend who was his asleep and pulled the trigger on himself.

Its understood, he was suffering from a sever psychological depression since his close friend was killed in a bomb explosion in Gaza last month.

The number of Israeli soldiers committing suicide have shot up since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.

On Sunday, a reserve soldier killed himself in a forest near the northern city of Safed due to psychological problems from the Gaza war.

About 21 soldiers took away their lives in 2024 according the Israel Hayom newspaper. This is while Haaretz said that 42 soldiers committed suicide since the start of the Israeli genocide.

Last week another Israeli soldier took away his life just after celebrating his 24th birthday having served in the wars on Gaza and Lebanon.

“He told me he saw horrors. He couldn’t stand the pain anymore,” the mother of soldier Daniel Edri told Walla News.

“He told me that he saw horrors, and said to me: Mom, I smell the smell of the bodies and I see the bodies all the time,” his mother recalled. He was discharged from the army five months ago and was involved in transporting the bodies of dead Israeli soldiers.

His life stopped after he set himself on fire inside his car outside an Israeli settlement near the Palestinian town of Safad, pointing out that he was mentally disturbed.

Many have long reported that there is a clear mental health crisis in the Israeli army with the highest toll in 13 years of soldiers taking away their lives

News

Haaretz: Hamas Still Has 40,000 Fighters

CrossFireArabia
May 26, 2025

Top Israeli military commanders say that power of Hamas has not diminished confirming that the military of their movement’s armed wing, the Izz Aldin Al Qassam Brigades, still has around 40,000 fighters.

This is a new assessment published by the Hebrew daily, Haaretz. It says that the Israeli commanders conclude in a detailed military assessment that the military manpower of Hamas, at 40,000 fighters, remain as they were before 7 October, 2023 when the war on Gaza was launched.

Despite the bloody war and mass destruction of the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military leaders still believe Hamas still possesses a number of long-range rockets and hundreds and perhaps thousands, of short-range shells and mortar shells.

Relaying on the same Israeli military sources, the newspaper states that it has been told that future Israeli operations will be carried out in areas where the captives – 59 and 22 still still alive – are likely to be held. However, it added these operations will be conducted in direct coordination with the Israeli Prisoners and Missing Persons Authority to ensure risk reduction. This is while the Israeli sources say that plans are underway to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to pre-determined gathering areas, most notably to Al-Mawasi, which currently houses approximately 700,000 displaced persons.

Until the new Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir assumed his post last March, the military believed Hamas no longer possessed an organized military structure. However, the new assessment indicates that the movement retains effective operational capabilities, despite having suffered heavy blows.

Israeli military officials said that the fighting has changed since then, with the adoption of “massive fire” tactics and the systematic destruction of Hamas’s military infrastructure, including tunnels.

Further, Israeli military intelligence are of the view that the local protests against Hamas in the Gaza Strip is too small and doesn’t constitute a “civilian uprising” and where the Islamist movement continues to enjoy mass support.

According to the Israeli newspaper however, an estimated one-third of Gaza’s population remains loyal to Hamas, another third belongs to Fatah, and the remainder is unaffiliated with any faction.

News

French Rabbi Receives Israeli Death Threats

CrossFireArabia
May 18, 2025

French Rabbi Delphine Horvilleur is facing death threats and intense backlash after criticizing Israeli ministers for justifying the starvation of civilians in Gaza.

Horvilleur, a leader of the Liberal Jewish Movement in Paris and editor of the Jewish magazine Tenou’a, wrote last week that “starving innocents or condemning children neither relieves pain nor avenges the dead.” Her comments targeted Israeli ministers who publicly defended blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza.

In her editorial, she wrote, “Without a future for the Palestinian people, there is no future for the Israeli people either.” Zionists swiftly responded with online abuse, including calls for her execution. Many threats were gender-based, claiming women shouldn’t speak or hold religious authority.

According to Haaretz, Horvilleur had been a prominent defender of Israel in French media, especially after the October 7 military operation. She said, “I’m too Zionist for some, not Zionist enough for others. I’m caught in the crossfire.”

She confirmed that French police are now monitoring her social media accounts due to the volume and severity of threats.

In a show of solidarity, 42 French intellectuals — both Jewish and non-Jewish — signed an op-ed in La Tribune du Dimanche. They denounced the Israeli government for eroding ‘democracy’, threatening detainees, expanding settlements, and preparing for the annexation of occupied territories.

However, Meir Ben Haim, French spokesperson for Israel’s Otzma Yehudit party, accused Horvilleur and her allies of “violating Jewish tradition.” He warned, “The price will be blood,” according to the Quds News Network.