Israel’s military is threatening to make dozens of soldiers face trial over their refusal to return to the Gaza Strip, amid growing cases of such refusals in recent months.
According to the Israeli public broadcaster, KAN, this week, at least 20 Israeli soldiers have refused to return to Gaza, where occupation forces have been committing war crimes and human rights violations while attempting to eliminate Palestinian Resistance group, Hamas, and its government in the besieged Territory.
At least 10 of those dissenting soldiers have reportedly received official warnings from the army, with threats of facing trial over their refusal to return.
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The families of some of the soldiers, who were quoted by the broadcaster, have stated that their relatives “are forced to conduct ground manoeuvres in Gaza or face prison”, resulting in some of them offering to return to duty in areas other than Gaza.
“There are only a few soldiers left in their company who are capable of fighting,” the soldiers’ relatives said. “This is our time as parents to help them confront a system that does not care about them.”
The threat of looming trials and legal action against Israeli soldiers comes amid increasing cases of dissenting soldiers refusing to continue to fight in the besieged Palestinian Territory, either due to the occupation forces’ ongoing war crimes or due to growing perception that Hamas cannot be as easily militarily defeated as the Israeli government initially believed.