Israeli opposition leader warns army casualties to increase under Netanyahu government

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) – Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has warned that military casualties will continue to increase amid Israel’s deadly offensives in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

"Eleven thousand soldiers were injured and 890 others killed” since Oct. 7, 2023, Lapid said in an interview with Israeli Channel 12 aired Monday evening.

Military figures released by the army show that 772 soldiers have been killed and around 5,100 injured since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict last year.

The opposition leader stressed that the Israeli military hides the true number of casualties in the Gaza and Lebanon wars.

"There are limits to how much we accept the alternative facts,” Lapid said, stressing that his figures about military casualties are "correct".

He warned that the number of dead and injured soldiers in the current conflicts will continue to rise if the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "doesn’t do anything."

Israel has continued a devastating war on the Gaza Strip since a Hamas attack last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 43,000 people have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 101,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Mediation efforts by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to reach a cease-fire in Gaza have so far failed to make a breakthrough due to Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the war.

The conflict has spread to Lebanon, with Israel launching deadly strikes across the country in an escalation from a year of cross-border warfare between Israel and the group since the start of the Gaza war.

Israel expanded the conflict on Oct. 1 this year by launching a ground assault into southern Lebanon.