More than 10,000 Israel soldiers disabled in the war on Gaza

Some 10,056 Israeli soldiers who have been injured since the beginning of the war on Gaza in October are being cared for by the Ministry of Defence’s Rehabilitation Department, it reported yesterday.

A statement issued by the Ministry of Defence stated that its Director-General, Eyal Zamir, met with the department’s management and discussed “the strategy for processing and caring for the thousands wounded in the war, in addition to continuing to care for the 62,000 disabled soldiers who were injured in previous wars.”

Data from the Rehabilitation Department indicates that more than 1,000 seriously wounded soldiers are being processed every month as a result of the ongoing war, in addition to about 530 who were wounded in previous wars.

This includes 35 per cent who are suffering from psychological issues, 37 per cent suffering from injuries to their limbs, while 68 per cent of those who have been disabled in the current war are soldiers in the reserve forces, 51 per cent of whom are 18-30 years old and 31 per cent are 30-40.

A large number of soldiers – 2,800 – have suffered psychological damage as a result of the war, including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, difficulty adapting and difficulty communicating with others.

More than 3,700 others suffer from injuries to their limbs, 192 suffered head injuries, 168 suffered eye injuries, 690 suffered spinal injuries, and 50 soldiers had limbs amputated.

The Rehabilitation Department expects that by 2030, the department will care for about 100,000 disabled soldiers, 50 per cent of whom will suffer from psychological disorders.

READ: Number of Israeli disabled soldiers exceeds 70,000 since 7 October – Report