News- Middle East: Nearly four dozen soldiers have taken their own lives in recent months due to the profound psychological trauma and exposure to unspeakable violence amid the regime's genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, at least 43 soldiers have taken their own lives, according to reports by Israeli media outlets.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper, quoting sources, reported that the most recent case involved a soldier from the Golani Brigade, who this week shot himself dead at the Sde Yaman military base.

The soldier took his own life after being questioned by the military police as part of a prior investigation. He had just returned from Gaza for a refresher training session when he was summoned for the interrogation.

Just days earlier, the Israeli news site Walla reported that another soldier had died by suicide after months of psychological suffering brought on by the horrors he witnessed during the prolonged war in Gaza and Lebanon.

His trauma began with the loss of two close friends on October 7, 2023, and intensified with “his continued anguish during the long months of war, and the horrors he witnessed on the battlefield.”

His family said he often spoke of “the smell of corpses and the atrocities he had seen.” He had been assigned to transport the bodies of dead soldiers from the fronts in Gaza and Lebanon.

He committed suicide after multiple requests for psychological support “to no avail.”

The Israeli army reportedly refused to bury him with "military honors" or count him among the war’s military casualties.

Despite attempts by the Israeli army to censor reports of suicides among soldiers and the surrounding circumstances, evidence continues to surface of a sharp increase in such cases.

The army has reportedly been burying some of these soldiers without military funerals or public announcements, in a desperate effort to conceal the extent of the crisis.

Meanwhile, the Hebrew-language Maariv daily reports that the Israeli Knesset is set to hold an emergency session following pressure from the families of soldiers, who raised concerns over serious flaws and security gaps in the Puma combat vehicles, heavily deployed in Gaza. 

Key issues with the vehicle include the lack of a rear emergency exit, limited peripheral cameras, and weaker protection compared to other armored vehicles.

In recent months, a growing manpower shortage has prompted the Israeli army to recall soldiers diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Critics say the Israeli regime is sending more soldiers into Gaza to fight in the same areas where battles have already taken place repeatedly.

Source: Press TV