Israeli army plans to establish new division amid personnel shortage: Report

By Anadolu staff

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army is planning to establish a new division with thousands of soldiers amid personnel shortage, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.

According to the Israeli news portal Walla, the new division will be made up of 40,000 soldiers of the male and female reservists who reached the retirement age along with other volunteers, including ultra-orthodox Jews.

It added that the division will be named "David’s Division" or "Division 96," and will be defined by the army as a light division without tanks or vehicle carriers.

Walla noted that Gen. Moti Baruch will supervise the formation of the division who previously led the army's training.

The formation of the new division comes amid rising refusals by reservist soldiers to continue their military services in the light of the Israeli onslaught on Gaza, according to the Israeli media.

Last month, the Israeli leftist Yesh Gvul (There is a Limit) movement reported an unprecedented rise in the number of Israelis refusing to serve in the military amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli news site Zman Yisrael, citing the movement, said a significant number of left-wing Israelis are refusing to enlist in protest against the government's policies toward Palestinians.

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

More than 37,600 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 86,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay 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 Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar