Tel Aviv, May 31 (RHC)-- An Israeli military court has sentenced two soldiers from the infantry Nahal Brigade to prison for their refusal to return to combat in the Gaza Strip, where the Tel Aviv regime has been waging a genocidal war since October 2023.
Despite previous statements by the Israeli military claiming it would not jail soldiers over such refusals, the two were punished for citing mental and physical exhaustion after months of participating in Israel’s ongoing onslaught in Gaza, the Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported.
“The two soldiers were sentenced to 15 and 20 days in prison after refusing to enter Gaza,” it said. According to the broadcaster, the soldiers, who were enlisted in August 2022, complained to their battalion commander that after a year and a half of operations, they were experiencing severe fatigue.
KAN said 11 infantry soldiers submitted a request earlier this month to their battalion commander, asking not to be sent into Gaza due to exhaustion.
In response, added the broadcaster, the commander threatened the soldiers with 20 days in prison for refusing to carry out orders.
This is not the first case of Israeli soldiers refusing to enter Gaza. Hebrew-language media outlets reported in early May that the Israeli military had issued tens of thousands of reserve call-up orders in preparation for what it described as an “expanded” campaign in Gaza.
These orders have triggered public debates in the Israeli-occupied territories, where disillusionment is growing among soldiers and their families over the prolonged war and its unclear objectives.
A recent study conducted by Tel Aviv University revealed that about 12% of Israeli reserve soldiers who took part in the Gaza war are suffering from severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), rendering them unfit for return to military service, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz.
At least 54,249 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and another 123,492 individuals injured in the brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 7, 2023.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former minister of military affairs Yoav Gallant, citing 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 besieged coastal territory.
[ SOURCE: AL JAZEERA ]
