Israeli army needs 10,000 soldiers ‘immediately,’ defense minister says

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – The Israeli army needs 10,000 more soldiers immediately amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Monday.

"The [Israeli] army needs 10,000 more soldiers immediately," Gallant said in statements carried by Army Radio during a session of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

He said the army can recruit 4,800 soldiers from ultra-Orthodox males.

Last week, Israel’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled that ultra-Orthodox Jews must be subject to the military draft, after decades of being exempted from military service.

Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

At least 37,900 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 87,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar