Report: number of wounded Israeli soldiers approaching 20,000

The number of wounded Israeli soldiers is likely to reach approximately 20,000 once those diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder are included, AP reported citing an Israeli activist.

Edan Kleiman, who heads the non-profit Disabled Veterans Organisation, said: “I have never seen a scope like this and an intensity like this.”

“We must rehabilitate these people,” he added, warning that the Israeli authorities are not grasping the severity of the situation.

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There is a large and growing segment of the wounded, who are also afflicted with deep psychological trauma, and whose suffering appears as a hidden cost of war, the Times of Israel reported.

According to Limor Luria, the head of the Israeli Defence Ministry’s Rehabilitation Department, 58 per cent of soldiers have sustained injuries to their limbs, including amputation.

The Defence Ministry said in mid-December that over 6,000 Israeli occupation forces and police members have been wounded since 7 October.

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