Israeli army in urgent need of troops amid rising casualties in Gaza

Sébastian SEIBT

19 June 2024 at 1:44 pm·1-min read

The head of the Israel Defence Forces said the army is facing troop shortages amid rising casualties in the war against Hamas in Gaza. Yet enlisting more troops is difficult due to rising public opposition to the war and an open conflict between Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his defence minister.

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) is facing increasing challenges as the war against Hamas enters its ninth month. On Monday, Israel lost eight soldiers in an explosion in Rafah, in what Israeli media called the “deadliest incident for IDF” in six months. The number might seem small in the context of the war in Gaza, but the number is far too high for Israeli public opinion.

A week before the explosion, Hamas claimed to have killed an unspecified number of Israeli soldiers after its fighters detonated a booby-trapped house in Rafah.

‘An exhausted army’

The losses underscored Israel’s army chief Herzi Halevi’s warning in recent days about shortages in the military, saying it would prevent Israel from waging the war against Hamas with the same intensity.

CNN
China expels two former defense ministers from Communist Party as military purge deepens
China on Thursday expelled its former Defense Minister Li Shangfu from the ruling Communist Party over corruption allegations, state broadcaster CCTV reported, eight months after he was dramatically removed from the post.
The Telegraph
‘This wasn’t a debate, it was a medical emergency’: Our writers give their verdicts
Follow the latest reaction in our live blog
INSIDER
North Korean troops will become 'cannon fodder' if they aid Russia in Ukraine, Pentagon says
A Pentagon spokesperson said that any military personnel North Korea sent to Ukraine to aid Russian forces would just be "cannon fodder."
INSIDER
China says it picked up a submarine detector dropped by a US Navy aircraft in the South China Sea
A video shared by Chinese state media shows a US Navy plane dropping something into the sea. China called it a submarine detector.
The Independent
‘I really don’t know what he said – and I don’t think he does either’: Trump pulls no punches as Biden struggles in debate
The first debate began with Biden spluttering and tripping over his own words, while Trump rambled
CNN
She managed to flee Gaza after half her family was killed in an Israeli strike. She blames Israel and Hamas for what happened
Roba Abu Jibba looked shell-shocked as the doctor delivered his news: She couldn’t have the operation she desperately wanted. She nervously scrunched the fabric of her dress, fighting off the tears that began flooding her one remaining eye.
Fortune
Beijing backtracks on a law punishing clothing that hurts ‘the feelings of the Chinese people’ after a public outcry
People were concerned about the law's vagueness, after reported incidents where officials targeted people wearing traditional Japanese clothing.
Associated Press
Indonesia detains 103 Taiwanese in a raid in Bali involving suspected cybercrime
Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese people after a raid at a villa on the resort island of Bali, officials said Friday. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charged them with conducting cybercrime.
The Telegraph
South Korea is running out of children – and this country could be next
Every spring, when warm rays of sunshine herald the start of South Korea’s baking summer, fountains across Seoul’s central Gwanghwamun plaza suddenly burst into life, sending cooling jets of water into the air.
The Telegraph
Army must be ‘twice as lethal’, says new chief
The Army must become twice as lethal in the next three years, its new chief has said.
HuffPost
Social Media Predicts Outcome Of Trump-Biden Debate — And It's Hilarious
Pundits and politicians aren’t the only ones offering their hot takes on how Thursday’s CNN event will go.
Associated Press
The Latest | Gaza families bid a tearful goodbye to critically ill kids leaving for treatment abroad
Families bid a tearful goodbye to over a dozen critically ill children who left Gaza for treatment abroad on Thursday. It’s the first medical evacuation since the territory’s sole travel crossing shut down in early May after Israeli forces captured it, Palestinian officials say. Israeli authorities say 68 people — 19 sick and injured children plus their companions — have been allowed out of the Gaza Strip and into Egypt.
AFP News
Israel says it can send Lebanon 'back to Stone Age' as UN warns against war
Israel said it does not want war in Lebanon but could send its neighbour "back to the Stone Age", as the UN's humanitarian chief warned such a conflict would be "potentially apocalyptic".It's potentially apocalyptic," warned Griffiths, whose term ends this week.
The Independent
Breaking ranks: Justice Amy Coney Barrett defies Supreme Court conservatives to back environmental protections
Justice Barrett, a Trump appointee, split from her conservative colleagues in recent decisions
HuffPost
Trump Says The 1 Line We Never Thought We'd Hear At A Presidential Debate
After President Joe Biden brought up the former president's alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, Donald Trump got in one last denial.
Euronews
Seoul warns Russia over North Korea-supplied weapons
The warning came at a time when Russia forced 10,000 recently naturalised citizens to fight in the war in Ukraine, while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited the battered eastern Donetsk region.
INSIDER
South Korea's military fires on border islands for the first time in 7 years as a North Korean missile fails and the balloon war rages on
It's been a noticeably tense time on the Korean peninsula lately with spats, deals, and muscle flexing.
The Independent
‘This party should fall’: MAGA candidate who didn’t win Boebert’s old seat calls Republican Party ‘irredeemable’
Volunteers and supporters of grassroots Colorado Republican Ron Hanks, who’d hoped to fill the congressional seat vacated by fellow MAGA diehard Lauren Boebert, gathered Tuesday night at a Grand Junction brewery for a watch party. Hanks lamented the results — and the state of the Republican Party. Sheila Flynn reports from the third congressional district
The Telegraph
‘It’s a very big secret’: the ultra-orthodox Jews shunning their families to fight in Gaza
When he leaves the army barracks to return to his ultra-orthodox Kiryat Menchem neighbourhood in west Jerusalem, Jacov Barchaim immediately swaps his khaki uniform for a traditional black suit to avoid causing offence.
BBC
US soldier charged in Japan for rape of minor
The case is likely to stoke the long-standing local opposition to US military presence.

‘An exhausted army’

Latest stories