The Israeli army will call rows to 60,000 reserves and extend the service of another 20,000 for the announced offensive to occupy all city of Gaza, whose preparations are being killed by political and military leaders. The recent protests by uniformed groups, as well as the growing tiredness in the ranks of the Army – and even the increase in suicides – have not stopped the plans of Prime Minister Benjamín Netanyahu and his Minister of Defense, Israel Katz, who have faced the same chief of the General Staff, Eyal Zamir, to continue with the operation.
Zamir reported Thursday that the Army has issued tens of thousands of recruitment orders. “We value their families already reserved; they do a sacred work. We call them only when necessary and trust them. I trust that they will be presented until the mission concludes,” he said in a statement.
It is expected that between 40,000 and 50,000 reservists be called in early September, according to the newspaper The Times of Israel. A second round of soldiers in the reserve will be called in November-December of this year and a third batch, in February-March next year. In addition, the service period of another 20,000 reservists that are already active will be extended about 30 or 40 days. In total, the reservists in the IDF would reach about 130,000.
When Netanyahu announced in early August his plans to continue expanding the occupation of Gaza (where the troops already control around 75% of the territory), Zamir's response was postponed the application of the extension of the military service of 32 to 36 months that the Executive had proposed and approved the legislative in July 2024, and that it had to begin to be applied in the coming months. However, the Chief of the General Staff of the Defense has been forced to apply the guidelines of the Executive.
Zamir's main objection to the occupation of Ciudad de Gaza was, on the one hand, the burden it supposes for his men, who have been fighting in the strip for more than 22 months, where 450 uniformed in this time have died. On the other hand, the military dome is aware of the risk involved in an offensive in a large and populated city, where troops are likely to face Hamas militiamen in an urban war that could be extended over time.
The spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (FDI), Effie Defrin, has described Gaza's city as “a government and military bastion” by Hamas, although it is not clear what operational capabilities still has the Islamist movement in the city that was the headquarters of its government since 2007. But from the military dome they have questioned that an “absolute victory” can be obtained Complete the group, as Netanyahu has promised again and again.
More voices against
The truth is that in the ranks of the army there have been signs of fatigue and tiredness, and some alarming data such as the increase in suicides – according to figures published by Israeli media, at least 17, in which it goes a year. Last week, hundreds of retired pilots or in the reserve demonstrated in Tel Aviv to request the end of the war through an agreement that brings back to the hostages that are still in the hands of the Palestinian militias (50 remain in Gaza since October 7, 2023, but it is believed that only one twenty is still alive).
They also protested against the government and what is seen by different groups in Israel as an attempt by Netanyahu to stay in power at the expense of the lives of more military and more hostages. They have even increased voices that denounce the massacre of innocent Palestinians, also hunger, specifically boys and girls.
Previously, dozens of IDF intelligence officers They signed a letter Against the war, revealing an unusual dissent inside one of the key units from the beginning of the Israeli offensive against the strip 22 months ago.
This week, many voices of protest have been heard in Israel, when one year of the death of six hostages that were killed when Israeli troops approached the area where they were retained. Both the relatives of the kidnapped and many other citizens, and some military, warn that the hostages that are alive in Gaza could run that same fate with the new offensive on Ciudad de Gaza, where the last hiding places of the captors could be.
The group that brings together the families of the hostages has repeatedly denounced that government plans put at risk the lives of their loved ones (and also the possibility of recovering the bodies from those who have died during their captivity). In addition, they accuse Netanyahu to boycott a possible high fire agreement that the Arab mediators presented and that Hamas accepted this week.
Last weekend, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets in Israel to request an agreement that ends the war in exchange for the liberation of hostages. Among the protesters, it is more frequent to see soldiers and reservists, although mobilizations have always been organized and starring the families of the hostages.
Less reservists
Even before the announcement of the offensive on Ciudad de Gaza, tiredness had been increasing between the ranks of Israel's defense forces, which in addition to Gaza have been deployed and operating in Lebanon (also since October 2023) and in Syria (since December 2024); and executed a bombing campaign against Iran last June.
The Army does not publish data on soldiers who do not appear to fight, but many reservists have already been called on more than one occasion and increasingly a greater number has refused to return to Gaza, according to local media. The online publication +972 Magazine (who has made one of the most critical and professional coverage) reported in April of this year that the percentage of those who presented themselves when they were called to rows were between 50% and 80%, which represented the lowest quotas since October 7, 2023, when they came even more volunteer than necessary.
In Israel, military service is mandatory for young men and women, but until 40 years, citizens remain in the reserve and can be called when the army needs them. The IDF nucleus is composed of military who comply with the mandatory service for more than two years, but they depend largely on the reservists for operations and actions outside the usual, as is the case of the offensive in Gaza.
After the attacks of Hamas of October 7 against the Jewish communities close to the strip, the IDF called more than 300,000 reservists to participate in the punnsive of punishment against the Gazatis – in which they have killed more than 62,000 -.
“Almost two years later, the enthusiasm has vanished. The war extends, 50 hostages remain in Gaza and the questions about leadership and the strategy weigh deeply. To the reservists, which have already put their private lives repeatedly since October 7, they are asked to do it again,” writes Herb Keinon in the newspaper The Jerusalem Post.
“Some openly ask if their sacrifice was in vain with the return of the FDI to the areas where they have already fought. Others complain that the war lacks a clear ending, that it is fought for the political survival of Prime Minister Benjamín Netanyahu, or that it is inadmissible The analyst continues.
The exemption of the military service of ultra -orthodox young people is another of the issues that weighs more and more about tired troops and also on Netanyahu, which must be content to the religious parties that are part of the ruling coalition, on the one hand, and the growing demands that Torah's students serve in the army like the rest of Israelis.
A few months after the beginning of the war in Gaza, he began to focus on the young people of the ultra -orthodox community (which represents more than 10% of the Israeli population) that had never had to do mandatory military service. In June 2024, the Supreme Court of Israel considered that there was no legal basis for that exemption and ordered its recruitment to begin, although it has not yet been carried out in a broad and systematic way. Meanwhile, Netanyahu's ultra -orthodox partners press him to find a legal way to continue enjoying their privileges or, at least, that those who refuse to serve in the IDF (there is a unit formed by ultra -orthodox men) are not punished.
From the army, as well as from broad sectors of society and politics – including Netanyahu's own party, Likud – have wondered why these young people can get rid of war, while tens of thousands have served hundreds of days and some have died or have been injured.
To replace the lack of soldiers and the increase in needs, Israeli media recently reported that the army was considering recruiting young Jews abroad, especially in France and the United States, but only one would add a few hundred each year.