The Israeli army has announced that it will extend mandatory service by four months due to a growing manpower crisis, coinciding with an intensification of battles in Gaza and the resurgence of deadly resistance operations against invading troops.
The additional four months will be classified as reserve duty, allowing soldiers to complete a total of three years of military service. The military will also cancel pre-release leave for soldiers. Troops will have to serve a full three years before being discharged.
This decision follows months of intense fighting and rising casualties, which have strained troop levels.
The extra four months will provide benefits for the soldiers, given that reserve duty is usually compensated by the Israeli government. The army states that its decision is temporary and aims to help alleviate the current troop shortages.
“At the moment, we are short 10,000 troops, 7,000 of them in combat units,” the army said. Israel announced on Saturday the death of Staff Sergeant Neta Yitzhak Kahana, an undercover operative with the Southern Border Police, who was killed during clashes with militants in Gaza.
His death marked the second Israeli soldier to be killed over the weekend. Both were killed in Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighborhood.
Israel has said that it will launch a major offensive across Gaza if no progress is made in truce negotiations. According to Tel Aviv, current operations in Gaza – which have seen the army seize at least 50 percent of the strip’s territory – aim to pressure Hamas in talks, not bring about a complete defeat of the resistance group.
An expanded assault on Gaza would include a massive call-up of reservists and operations in new areas of the strip, the army has said.
Last month, Israeli media reported that the army is facing a crisis in its reserves as a growing number of soldiers have indicated a lack of motivation and an unwillingness to serve. A senior commander in the reserves told Haaretz that there are numerous cases of reservist soldiers refusing to report for duty.
According to estimates, the response rate for the upcoming reservist call-up is expected to be no more than 50 percent. This would mark a 50 percent drop since the start of the war in 2023.
Meetings of the Israeli Security Cabinet revealed “major disagreements” between the political and the military ranks regarding the policies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on the genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.
Read: https://t.co/RSWsBIiV95 pic.twitter.com/HbtZuXxnVH
— Middle East Monitor (@MiddleEastMnt) April 27, 2025
The manpower crisis Israel is facing coincides with growing tension between Israel’s political and security establishments. Former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon called for civil disobedience against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following his dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar. This came during a protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday.
Israeli protesters have also taken to the streets to demand an immediate exchange agreement in Gaza, where relentless airstrikes are endangering the lives of captives still held by the resistance.
Tyler Durden
Sun, 04/27/2025 – 22:10
