Middle East Crisis Gaza War

More and more Israeli soldiers seek help after Gaza

Many Israeli soldiers feel guilt, shame and disgust for their participation in the war in Gaza, writes the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. In a series of articles that has been going on for months, the newspaper is now drawing attention to new disturbing testimonies, claims from former soldiers that, like the previous ones, point in the same direction: Against commanders who encouraged actions that hit the civilian population and about authorities who are failing their soldiers.

Israeli authorities do not release any statistics, but the number of people from the military seeking help has increased, Gil Zalsman of the country's National Council for Suicide Prevention tells the newspaper.

- We see it both in our trauma clinics and in our private clinics. We have also seen it in children of soldiers who have heard stories and are worried about what their fathers have done, he says.

The Soldier: “I was in shock – a spineless loser”

In Israel’s war on Gaza, they were ordered to kill or watch as other soldiers committed abuses against the civilian population. All in revenge for Hamas’s terrorist act on October 7, 2023. But now, almost three years later, several Israeli soldiers are paying a high price for this, writes Haaretz, which interviewed several victims.

“When I returned, they called me a hero, but I felt like a monster,” says a 34-year-old man who worked as a programmer before the war.

One incident that particularly haunted him was when, on a highway, he fired shots with a drone at what he perceived as “mysterious people” but who, upon closer inspection, turned out to be an elderly man and three teenage boys. Despite the discovered mistake, his commander applauded him and said he had done the right thing.

– I was in shock, but I didn't say anything because I was a loser. A spineless loser, he says