Transporting an Israeli soldier wounded in battles in the Gaza Strip (Anatolia Agency)
As its aggression against the Gaza Strip continues, the Israeli occupation army faces successive crises affecting its military performance, at a time when it faces the legendary steadfastness of the Palestinian resistance factions, most notably the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement.
Although more than 5 months have passed since the Israeli aggression on Gaza, the resistance is still directing successive strikes against the occupation forces, and the success of its operations indicates the state of impasse that the occupation army is experiencing, and the state of heavy bleeding that has occurred in it in terms of losses in officers, soldiers and military vehicles.
According to analysts, the emergence of serious crises in the occupation army is a strong indication of a profound failure during the war on the Gaza Strip. This also raises a major question about the reality of who is fighting the war, in light of talk about the presence of foreign soldiers on the battlefield, in addition to dozens of security companies and fighters. From mercenaries.
The crises of the occupation army were manifested in a number of manifestations, and this is a review of the most prominent of them:
Major failure in the field:
Writer and political researcher Moin Manna believes that the war on Gaza constituted a major failure for the occupation army and exhausted its forces, especially the ground forces, which have become dilapidated as a result of the resistance strikes, and reconstitution operations are taking place continuously. He pointed out that the repeated request for calm or a truce is a manifestation of the exhaustion to which the occupation is exposed in Gaza. .
Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, he said that the army was unable, despite more than 5 months of war, to achieve a real achievement in the Gaza Strip, neither at the level of tunnels, nor at the level of tactics, nor at other levels.
He added that the occupation army's crises in the war on Gaza emerged through its inability to identify targets as a result of the intelligence blindness it faces, in addition to the tactical surprises it faces in the field.
Decrease in the number of soldiers and officers:
The killing and wounding of thousands of soldiers during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood and its subsequent ground invasion of the Gaza Strip reinforced the need for more human mobilization within the ranks of the occupation army.
Israeli media reported that the army is suffering from a shortage in personnel, and that it needs about 7,000 additional officers, and Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted a statement from the occupying army that half of the required forces will be distributed on combat missions.
The statement revealed that although the army needed to promote 7,500 conscripts to compensate for the shortage among officers and non-commissioned officers, the government only allowed 2,500 to be promoted due to double the budget.
The newspaper suggested that the process of compensating for the shortage of officers would be difficult, as it requires time and effort to train new officers.
It is also noteworthy that the elite Givati Brigade decided to expel 9 soldiers from combat in the Gaza Strip, due to problems with operational discipline among the soldiers.
Voluntary departure of permanent service members:
Israeli media reported that there was a fear among army leaders about the acceleration of the voluntary departure of army personnel, noting that this crisis comes “at a time when the army needs to increase the number of its forces in light of the significant increase in the tasks assigned to it.”
The newspaper "Israel Today" indicated in a report that senior officers in the army are very concerned about the raging debate among young people who are serving, as well as among older permanent service members, who also report their desire to be discharged from service, due to the burden placed on them compared to soldiers. Precaution.
The report said that the burden falls not only on the fighters, but also on the vast majority of permanent service members, including combat support.
He pointed out that the Israeli army leadership is particularly concerned about the effects of the war on the Intelligence Division, as many of its members feel responsible for the failure, and fear a mass resignation that will lead to a severe shortage of manpower in the division.
The Israeli Channel 14 also revealed a massive wave of mass resignations that included a large number of officers and officials in the department of the Israeli army spokesman, Daniel Hagari, in protest against the conduct of military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Refusal to join the theater of combat operations:
Press reports revealed that soldiers in the elite forces and reserve brigades announced their refusal to join the army to participate in the war on Gaza.
The Hebrew newspaper "Haaretz" reported in a report that a group of Israeli soldiers in the elite Givati Brigade refused to participate in the war on the Gaza Strip, accusing the army of neglecting their psychological and physical safety.
In this context, Israeli Radio indicated that there was a state of chaos at the organizational level in some reserve battalions.
She added that soldiers left with the approval of the officers responsible for them, after it became clear that the army intended to bring them into the Gaza Strip to carry out combat missions for which they were not qualified, explaining that they were summoned at the end of last December.
Fear of activating the Hannibal Protocol:
In this regard, Manna points out that army members are now resorting to requesting legal advisors for fear of being killed by their colleagues if it is necessary to activate the Hannibal Directive, which is a measure used by the Israeli army to prevent the capture of its soldiers, even if it means killing them.
It should be noted here that Israeli army data showed that dozens of soldiers were killed and hundreds injured by mistake since the start of ground battles in the Gaza Strip on October 27, 2023.
Exemption of religious people from military service:
The occupation army is facing a crisis regarding the exemption of ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his government is “looking for a solution to end the exemption of ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service.”
Netanyahu added at the end of last month, "We will set goals for recruiting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army and the national civil services. We will also determine means to implement these goals."
In 2018, the Supreme Court in Israel invalidated a law exempting religious Jews from conscription, and said that the need required all Israelis to share in bearing the burden of military service.
New appointments:
The new appointments recently issued by the Chief of Staff of the occupying Army, Herzi Halevy, to senior positions, aroused the dissatisfaction of retired soldiers and officers, led by Reserve Major General Yitzhak Brik, who strongly attacked the Chief of Staff and the commanders of the General Staff.
“In any enlightened place in the world, the Chief of Staff and his generals would be immediately dismissed or forced to resign after any failure,” Brik said, adding that the lax leadership of the Chief of Staff and his generals, arrogance, arrogance, and complacency is what caused the terrible disaster, which is one of the worst disasters Israel has ever known. Since its establishment.”
Halevy had announced a series of changes in senior military positions, for the first time since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, during which a new commander was appointed for the multi-tasking unit, and new commanders were appointed for the Golani Brigade, the Southern Brigade in the Gaza Division, and the 1st Brigade.
The list also includes 3 senior commanders with the rank of brigadier general, 11 new commanders with the rank of colonel, in addition to 26 others who were transferred between units at the same rank.
Sharp disagreements:
Israeli reports revealed deep differences between the government and the Israeli army, due to the government's management of the war and its post-war plans in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli Channel 12 website said that a sharp confrontation took place between Chief of Staff Halevy and ministers in Netanyahu's government, who criticized the army's failure to achieve achievements in the war on the Gaza Strip, stressing that the ground attack launched by the army on the Strip "is not going well."
Deep disagreements had previously occurred between the Prime Minister and the army leadership regarding preparations to begin a military operation in Rafah, and according to a political affairs analyst on the Israeli Channel 12, Yaron Abraham, “Netanyahu is demanding the occupation of Rafah, while the Chief of Staff stresses the need to secure the appropriate conditions.”
Mercenaries and foreign soldiers
The military spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaida, previously spoke for the first time during a media statement about the presence of “mercenaries” fighting with the Israeli army.
This brings us to the case of American Air Force soldier Aaron Bushnell, who burned himself in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington in solidarity with Palestine.
Bushnell appeared in a video clip before setting himself on fire, in which he said, "I will not be complicit in genocide," while the New York Post quoted his friend as telling him that he had obtained secret information about the participation of American forces in Gaza.
A Washington Post report also revealed that American soldiers went to fight in Gaza and were killed after participating in the war alongside Israel.
French MP Thomas Portes previously revealed that more than 4,000 Israeli soldiers participating in the war on the Gaza Strip are French with dual citizenship.
A video clip circulated on social media showing heavily armed soldiers hiding behind a wall, speaking the Ukrainian language.
The presence of foreign soldiers and mercenaries may confirm the truth of the statement that the occupation army only announces a small percentage of the number of deaths resulting from resistance strikes in Gaza.
Source: Al Jazeera + websites