News / Palestine

300 Israelis desert military service in occupied lands: Report

Saturday, 12 August 2017 6:08 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 12 August 2017 6:09 PM ]

Israeli forces are seen during clashes with Palestinians near the Jewish settlement of Beit El on the outskirts of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on July 28, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

A report has revealed that hundreds of Israeli soldiers have abandoned their duties without permission, and are intent not to return in a show of disapproval of the military conscription policies of the Israeli regime.

The Hebrew-language news website Walla reported on Saturday that 300 Israeli troops had left or remained absent from their units over the past week.

The report added that Israeli military officials have leveled charges against 60 soldiers, who have been dropped from their unit rolls and listed as deserters.

The report came as the Israeli military announced earlier this year that suicide was the main cause of death among Israeli soldiers, and that 15 troopers - all of them male - had taken their own lives last year.

The army added that four soldiers were killed in the course of military operations, nine in on-base accidents, seven in off-duty car accidents and six died from illness or other medical reasons.

Another 43 soldiers were seriously hurt during the course of 2016.

Most of the soldiers injured or killed were conscripted troops. A smaller portion were career soldiers, and a handful were reservists who were in service at the time of their deaths, the Israeli army said.

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