The number of disabled Israeli soldiers is estimated to rise to as many as 12,500 in 2024, a report says, as a horrible nightmare of bloodshed in the Palestinian territory is unfolding due to the occupying regime’s incessant bombing.
In a report published on Friday, the Israeli Ynet news website estimated in a “gloomy forecast” that the number of the occupying regime’s wounded soldiers would increase by over 20 percent in the current year, citing officials in the Security Ministry’s Rehabilitation Division.
According to the report, more than 5,000 disabled Israeli soldiers were admitted to rehabilitation last year, adding that of this figure, “3400 were added since the beginning of the war” in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The Israeli regime waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s atrocities against Palestinians.
Since the start of the US-backed offensive, the Israeli regime has killed at least 22,600 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured over 57,000 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under the rubble.
The report stressed that the 12,500 figure is a conservative and cautious estimate and that the number of cases requesting disability recognition could reach as many as 20,000.
“The expectations for 2024 are shocking, as 12,500 fighters will be recognized as disabled, and this is a very cautious and conservative estimate, with the expected volume of requests reaching 20, 000,” it said.
These figures, the Israeli daily said, are about Israeli military personnel and not Israeli settlers who are described as so-called civilians.
“It is important to note that these numbers do not include civilians who have been injured since October 7,” it stressed.
The Israeli ministry of military affairs’ rehabilitation department is currently treating 60,000 disabled Israeli soldiers.
The addition of thousands more soldiers into rehabilitation services could present financial and logistical challenges to the already criticized program for disabled soldiers, Ynet added.
On Thursday, Gaza’s Government Media Office said the Israeli regime had dropped more than 65,000 tons of missiles and bombs on Gaza throughout the war.
