News- Middle East: Four soldiers from the Israeli army’s Nahal Brigade have been sentenced to ten days in prison after refusing to carry out a “dangerous mission” in Gaza City, Israeli media say.

Channel 10 reported that the soldiers were commanded to guide logistics workers retrieving equipment along an unsecured daytime route in an unarmored vehicle. They asked to perform the operation under cover of darkness, but their commanders denied the request.

“We were asked to pass through a dangerous road surrounded by buildings that had not yet been destroyed. This is a mission that is usually carried out either in a tank, an armored vehicle, or at night. During the day, such missions are exposed targets for sniper fire or RPGs,” a soldier said.

Growing dissent is emerging within Israel as more and more soldiers and their families express refusal to return to Gaza to wage war on Palestinians.

The family members voiced their distress, with one soldier's mother stating that their sons had already endured combat and lost friends to snipers. She said the experience of being branded as "refuseniks" and imprisoned caused them severe psychological harm.

In response, the soldiers’ battalion commander said the refusal to follow orders “is a red line” that threatens unit cohesion and discipline.

This comes amid the ongoing severity of clashes throughout the strip, as Palestinian resistance factions intensify their assaults on Israeli troops, in spite of months of extensive aerial bombardment and ground offensives.

On Monday, Israeli media reported that two soldiers were killed and nine others were wounded in battles with resistance fighters in northern Gaza Strip.

Hebrew media reported that a combined ambush targeted Israeli forces in Gaza, leaving several dead and wounded.

Last month, reports said the Israeli military is grappling to find enough reserve forces for a planned invasion to occupy Gaza City, with hundreds of reservists warning not to report for duty as the “crisis of trust” deepens between the occupation army and the Tel Aviv regime.

The reports said most of the reservists had already served hundreds of days since the start of the Gaza invasion in October 2023, and they were required to serve an additional three months, with the possibility of a one-month extension depending on how the invasion unfolded.

Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz said hundreds of Israeli soldiers had come out against the new invasion and threatened not to show up for service.

The Israeli military has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since October 7, 2023, dismissing international appeals for a ceasefire, resulting in the deaths of at least 66,097 Palestinians, predominantly women and children.

Source: Press TV