12,500 Israeli soldiers disabled since start of Gaza war

The Israeli Defense Ministry estimated that 12,500 soldiers with disabilities have been wounded in the war in the Gaza Strip since October 7.

The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said, Friday, that the Division of Soldier Rehabilitation at the Ministry of Defense dealt with 3,400 soldiers classified as disabled in the army since October 7 of last year.

The figures come despite an instruction by the Israeli military censor on media coverage of the war on Gaza, which prohibits the media from handling, publishing, or dealing with eight issues without the prior approval of the military censor, including details of Israeli military and intelligence operations and missile attacks against sensitive sites in Israel.

The Israeli army announced yesterday that the 669th Rescue Unit had evacuated more than 1,000 wounded since the start of the ground operation in the Gaza Strip.

Conflicting numbers
"Last month, Yediot Aharonot reported that 5,000 soldiers had been wounded since the war began on 7 October, and that the Defense Ministry had admitted 2,000 as disabled so far."

More than 5,000 wounded soldiers have arrived at hospitals, and more than 2,000 have been officially recognized as disabled members of the army and have been received by the Defense Ministry," the paper said, noting that the ministry's rehabilitation department receives 60 wounded, most of them critically.

Israel's Channel 12 said two weeks ago that 3,000 war-wounded Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were classified as "permanently disabled in the army."

The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), announces daily targeting of occupation vehicles and soldiers in Gaza, supported by a video of those operations. The resistance also asserts that the losses of the occupation are much greater than what is being announced.

Source: Yediot Aharonot