Israel's continuation of its war on Gaza, for more than seven and a half months, is severely affecting its army and soldiers, in light of the decline in ammunition stocks and the lack of military equipment, and even more so in light of the injuries among Israeli soldiers and the decline in their morale, according to military analysts today, Friday.

Military analyst Amir Rappaport reported in the Makor Rishon newspaper that the number of tanks currently in the army’s possession is less than half of the tanks it had ten years ago, “and much less than the ‘red line’ drawn by the General Staff. The Israeli army is an army” "very small compared to the tasks it must face on the various fronts."

In addition, according to Rapaport, hundreds of soldiers and officers have been killed in the current war, and the number of injured soldiers is large, and there are currently 10,000 disabled soldiers, many of whom have been diagnosed as “mentally ill.”

He continued that a large number of soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress symptoms, "and the most effective method currently is conversations with psychologists, who frequent the Israeli army bases around the Gaza Strip and sometimes on the northern border in large numbers, and hold conversations with soldiers before and after battles."

Rapaport pointed out that “the shortage of soldiers is felt throughout the army, but the greatest shortage exists at the field officer level, among unit and company commanders. There is also the issue of the psychological competence of soldiers,” due to the long period they spent in combat, without leave, “and soldiers who do not They are still on the battlefield, they cannot even participate in the funerals of their colleagues, they face tremendous stress, and they have no time to recover from the events they faced during the war themselves.”

He added, "The physical and psychological decline of soldiers, especially in the regular forces, and the significant shortage of officers, greatly worries the leadership of the Israeli army."

The military analyst in the newspaper "Haaretz", Amos Harel, pointed out that the war on Gaza will continue for a long period "without the Israeli army completing the central war investigations and without the central officials responsible for the mistakes in it leaving the ranks of the army or being removed from service."

He added, "All officials admitted to the failures at an early stage, and the head of the Military Intelligence Division, Aharon Halifa, translated this into resignation. And the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, by absolutely refusing to acknowledge responsibility for the failure, outdid all his colleagues. But it is not possible to talk forever about responsibility as an issue." Philosophical-theoretical, without supporting it with action.”

According to Harel, “these doubts are penetrating within the military institution, and to all levels, starting from the generals who feel distant and alienated from their colleagues in the General Staff and the Chief of Staff of the Army itself, to the commanders of battalions and companies in permanent military service, among whom the number of those requesting their dismissal is increasing.” “As a result of feelings of declining morale due to the long war.”

Harel pointed out, “In the Israeli army they talk about the necessity of managing the ‘ammunition economy’ in order to maintain a stock of missiles and bombs for the possibility of an all-out war against Hezbollah. But morale is a resource that will face a shortage and should be treated with caution. This applies to reserve soldiers, Those who are called for military service for the third time in the Gaza Strip, the North, or the West Bank, as well as young regular soldiers who are now being sent to Gaza shortly after the end of their training.

He continued, "The operations and manpower divisions are facing emergency situations, the severity of which no one expected. A long war of attrition like this was not expected in war scenarios, and brings pressure at an unreasonable level."

Ofer Shelah, a researcher at the National Security Research Institute at Tel Aviv University and former member of the Knesset, pointed out that the scenes and reports about the war on Gaza “bring back to memory the year 1983, the year the Israeli army began diving into the Lebanese mud.” He expected that "the burdens on the reserve forces, especially against the backdrop of escalating disagreements in Israeli society over the goals of the war, will negatively affect the army's performance."