Israeli teen jailed for refusing military service in opposition to Gaza war

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) - An Israeli military court has sentenced a teen to 30 days in prison for refusing army service in opposition to the ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip.

"I refuse to believe that more violence will bring security, I refuse to take part in a war of revenge,” Tal Mitnick, 18, said in a statement cited by The Jerusalem Post newspaper.

“In a world full of corrupt interests in which we live, violence and war are another way to increase support for the government and silence criticism," he added.

"We must recognize the fact that after weeks of the ground operation in Gaza, at the end of the day - negotiations, an agreement, brought back the hostages. It was actually military action that caused them to be killed,” Mitnick said.

“Because of the criminal lie that 'there are no innocent civilians in Gaza,' even hostages waving a white flag shouting in Hebrew were shot to death. I don't want to imagine how many similar cases there were not investigated because the victims were born on the wrong side of the fence.”

The teen is the first Israeli to be imprisoned over his opposition to the Gaza war since the outbreak of the conflict on Oct. 7.

He is expected to be slapped with other jail sentences after his initial release, according to a statement by his representatives.

In August, over 200 Israeli high schoolers announced rejection of military service, citing Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 21,110 Palestinians have since been killed and 55,243 others injured, according to local health authorities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave's infrastructure damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million people displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicines.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio in Ankara