PNN – Many Israeli soldiers returning from the war in Gaza confirm that they have experienced terrible conditions in Gaza and have lived with the nightmare that they will not come out of this war alive, confirming that they need mental health care.
Pakistan News Network; “We left Gaza, but I can still smell the corpses in my nose.” This is said by Israeli soldier Tal Neef, who recently left Gaza together with a number of other soldiers after four months of fighting in Gaza.
Yedioth Aharonot newspaper (February 6), publishing a report, described the scenes of the dire situation of the Israeli reserve forces in Gaza, who may be called to fight again at any moment, in their own words.
Neef says that “we were hit hard in Gaza, two of my comrades were killed and four others were wounded. I think I need more time to explain what life is like for me after this. But now I have to say that it is very difficult for me to communicate with people. “My mood fluctuates, but most of the time I’m in a bad mood and I’m nervous and my face is very sad.”
This is the situation of many Israeli reserve forces who have been discharged from service, but they know that at any moment they may be called to it again and return to the nightmare of Gaza. It is true that the devastating war in Gaza has so far resulted in the martyrdom of more than 27,000 Palestinians. However, the resistance forces and the Palestinian people standing up to the aggressors has caused a large number of Israeli soldiers to suffer mental and emotional problems, and according to Zionist sources, about 9,000 Israeli soldiers have received psychiatric services since the beginning of the Gaza war, and a quarter of them have never return to war.
One of the Israeli soldiers who returned from the war talks to Yediot Aharonot about his fear due to the explosion of a bomb near him and the firing of a mortar towards him and explains that he feels he has a delusion that he may be with him for the rest of his life. “When I take a shower and come out perfectly clean, suddenly for 10 seconds I feel the smell of dead bodies. This smell was everywhere in Gaza.. During these four months, I told myself several times that I was going to die and that I would not come out of Gaza safe.”
Another soldier named Eyal Atzmon, who left Gaza about a month ago, says he is struggling with the effects of this war. “Something happens that you can’t act like nothing happened. Smells bother me. The smell of the body, mixed with the smell of corpses, gunpowder and fire smoke everywhere.
According to this therapist, the reason for this is the magnitude of the current war and the changes that the Israeli military is experiencing since October 7. Although between 80 and 90 percent of these soldiers return to normal, 10 to 15 percent suffer from various complications throughout their lives.
More than 120 days have passed since the war in Gaza, and during this time, the medical and health sources of the Zionist regime have repeatedly reported that a large number of Israeli soldiers have been referred to psychiatric centers and that they suffered from shock caused by the incident. Rapid heartbeat, sweating, sudden increase in blood pressure, uncontrollable shaking of the body, confusion and inability to move are among the problems that these soldiers suffer from.