By Abdelraouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) – At least 1,600 Israeli soldiers have developed shell-shock symptoms since Israel expanded its ground offensive in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 27, according to local media on Tuesday.
Data obtained by the Walla news website showed that 76% of these soldiers returned to the battlefield after initial treatment in the field.
Nearly 1,000 soldiers, however, did not improve and required further rehabilitation at military centers, data showed.
Some 250 Israeli soldiers were discharged from service as they continued to suffer shell-shock symptoms from the war, Walla said.
According to the news portal, around 3,475 injured soldiers have been treated at the army’s rehabilitation center since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on Oct. 7.
Israel has launched air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7.
At least 22,185 Palestinians have since been killed and 57,035 others injured, according to Gaza’s 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 residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicines.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar