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Duration 03 minutes 35 seconds 03:35

The Israeli occupation cut off the supply of water and electricity to the Gaza Strip at the beginning of the war, and imposed difficult living conditions on its people, but it did not take into account that its soldiers would pay a price for this after the start of their ground incursion into the Strip.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth, the occupation forces in Gaza faced an "extraordinary rise" in the incidence of intestinal diseases and food poisoning among soldiers, and accordingly 18 soldiers were evacuated for medical treatment after contracting an outbreak of shigella bacteria – which usually spreads due to lack of hygiene – and symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting.

Symptoms of this bacterium are sharp and sudden abdominal pain and cramps, severe fever, nausea and vomiting, as well as watery and bloody diarrhea.

The Israeli newspaper quoted one soldier in Gaza as saying that the bulk of the food consumed in his unit comes from food donations, because "army food is inedible."

With the start of the war, campaigns were launched to donate meals to soldiers due to the army's lack of preparedness for war with the necessary food, and indeed restaurants in Israel provided free meals to soldiers.

Dr. Tal Brosh, director of the infectious diseases unit at the General Hospital in Ashdod, explains that the outbreak of these bacteria has operational consequences: "If there are 10 soldiers in an infantry company with a fever of up to 40 degrees and suffering from diarrhoea every 20 minutes, they are unfit for combat and put themselves at risk."

You reap what you sow.

Shabakat program (2023/12/5) monitored part of the comments of tweeters on the infection of the occupation soldiers with food poisoning and infectious diseases, including what Muhammad wrote, "They entered Gaza to kill and destroy after a suffocating siege, but they did not expect to taste from the same cup, if you did not cut off the water, you would find what you wash your hands of bacteria."

Salma agreed with the same idea, which she expressed in a tweet in which she said: "Of course they will get diseases, they have caused the spread of diseases in Gaza and many deaths because of them, did they expect that they will not be infected? You only reap what you sow."

As for Samir, he tweeted, "It seems that there is a disease that has now spread among the ranks of the army bacteria "Shigella" and infected the enemy soldiers with diarrhea and colic and I hope that diarrhea and colic from the fear and terror that settled in their hearts."

Rashad said that "the spread of organic and psychological diseases is inevitable among the occupation soldiers," adding, "Ask your government why it sent you and cut off food and water from you, it implicated you inside Gaza and you will not get out of it as you entered it."

In a related context, the Israel Broadcasting Corporation said that two thousand soldiers have received psychiatric assistance since the Al-Aqsa flood operation on October 7, adding that between 75 and 80 percent of these recruits - who were classified wounded in the battle - were able to return to the ranks of their units in the field.

According to the commission, a battlefield casualty is defined as a soldier who has been subjected to an accident such as shooting, confrontation, injury, or has witnessed injuries and dangerous scenes of others, which led to a decline in his performance.

Source : Al Jazeera