Israeli soldiers recount mental breakdowns, fear amid Gaza war

Five Israeli soldiers recently shared harrowing accounts with the local newspaper Haaretz revealing the harsh psychological toll and pervasive fear gripping troops during the ongoing Gaza genocide, their testimonies contrasting sharply with the official military narrative, Anadolu reports.

Twenty-year-old Or, a paratrooper reconnaissance soldier, recounted approaching the ruins of a home in Khan Younis targeted by Israeli airstrikes.

“In the debris – what was once walls – we suddenly found five, maybe six bodies. There were flies everywhere, and I think dogs had torn at the flesh. There was barely anything left,” he said.

“Two of them were small children – I saw their bones. It was horrible, unforgettable, something that still haunts my nights,” he added.

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“I remember the smell – it took over my body, clung to my clothes. Even after I sprayed myself with deodorant nonstop that night, it wouldn’t leave me,” Or said.

He was redeployed to the Gaza border days later without a set return date.

“We packed the gear and loaded it up quickly onto the Humvees that took us back in. I wanted to jump off. I wanted to run – but I didn’t have the guts,” he added.

Or described enduring “another week of explosions. Another week of socks glued to my skin, of heat I can’t even describe. A living nightmare. I just want it to be over already – please.”

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