Army said to be short 7,500 soldiers, including hundreds of officers in combat units
The Israeli army has acknowledged for the first time a major depletion in its ranks amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, local media said on Monday.
“For the first time, the Israeli army admits that its forces are significantly depleted. It estimates a shortage of around 7,500 soldiers,” the Hebrew-language daily Maariv said.
According to the report, the army is currently lacking 300 platoon commanders in combat units across its ground forces.
The army admitted that it has been “difficult to convince capable soldiers to join the officer training program,” and said it had resorted to appointing experienced sergeants as acting platoon commanders to fill the gap.
Maariv said that another shortfall lies in company-level leadership.
“In recent months, the army has been forced to assign officers to roles in both regular and reserve units who have not completed the official company commander course,” the paper said.
As for the war in Gaza, Maariv noted that “a significant number of officers and commanders have been killed,” and that “hundreds have been injured.”
Commanders in both regular and reserve units told the newspaper that the leadership crisis extends beyond platoon and company levels, reaching battalion commanders, who bear a heavy combat burden while remaining away from home and family.
Many battalion commanders have expressed interest in retiring due to workload and extended deployments, the daily said.
Despite more than 21 months since the start of the genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, Palestinian resistance factions continue to conduct well-planned ambushes in the area, inflicting casualties on Israeli forces, showcasing Tel Aviv's inability to achieve its war objectives.
Israel maintains strict censorship on reporting its military losses in Gaza and has not published an updated toll for its dead and wounded, prompting speculation that actual figures may be significantly higher.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 59,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to food shortages and a spread of disease.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
