Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant revealed on Monday that the Israeli army needs 10,000 additional soldiers immediately.

Army Radio quoted Gallant as telling the parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Security Committee that Israel immediately needs 10,000 soldiers, and that they can recruit 4,800 Haredi religious Jews.

Israel continues its war on the Gaza Strip, while threatening a war on Lebanon. It also continues its raids, arrests, and assassinations in the occupied West Bank.

In parallel, Israeli Channel 12 said that about 900 officers of varying ranks requested consideration of the possibility of releasing them from military service contracts during the last year, while such requests had previously not exceeded 150 officers.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said that dozens of reserve soldiers announced that they would not return to military service in the Gaza Strip, even if they were to be punished.

This comes at a time when Israeli media reported that hundreds of reserve soldiers in the Israeli army leave abroad every month without informing their commanders, in light of the continuing war on Gaza, where the occupation forces have suffered heavy losses over the past months.

Last Tuesday, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled to force the recruitment of Haredi Jews into the occupation army, which is facing fierce resistance in the Gaza Strip and is under pressure on the southern Lebanon front.

The Israeli Supreme Court also ordered a freeze on the budget of religious schools, and said in its decision that there is no legal basis for the government to exempt Haredi Jews from conscription.