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Over 100 female Israeli draftees decline service in surveillance unit: Report

Friday, 12 April 2024 7:21 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 12 April 2024 8:00 AM ]

Israeli soldiers mourn during the funeral of a fellow corporal on November 17, 2023. (Photo by Reuters)

A new report has revealed the mass refusal of female Israeli draftees to serve as surveillance soldiers amid the regime’s ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.

Israel's Ynet news site reported that 126 out of the 326 Israeli women who were conscripted to the army this week refused to go from their draft center to a training base.

It was the third draft since early October that has seen significant numbers refusing to join the Israeli military’s surveillance unit, the report said.

Most of those serving in the unit are female soldiers, who are tasked with monitoring surveillance cameras along the border between the Israeli-occupied territories and the Gaza Strip and dispatching troops to potential incidents.

The report attributed the mass refusal to the historic operation on October 7, when the Palestinian Hamas resistance group killed 15 Israeli forces and took six captives during an attack on the Nahal Oz military base.

The attack on the base, which is located less than a kilometer from Gaza, came at the very start of Hamas’ Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.

Israeli media later said that at least three months prior to the operation, surveillance soldiers at the Nahal Oz base reported signs that something unusual was underway at the Gaza barrier, but their warnings were disregarded as unimportant by intelligence officials.

Israel unleashed its war on the besieged Gaza after the Hamas operation against the regime in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

However, more than six months into the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has failed to achieve its objectives in Gaza despite killing at least 33,545 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injuring 76,094 others.

Israeli war minister admits regime’s military paying ‘high price’ in Gaza

The Israeli minister of military affairs complains of the heavy toll the ongoing Gaza war is inflicting on the regime’s army, calling for drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews amid manpower shortages.

The Israeli military is now suffering a manpower shortage that has sparked calls to end military service exemptions for the ultra-Orthodox community.

Most Israeli men are required to serve nearly three years followed by years of annual reserve duty, while many women serve two years.

However, the politically powerful ultra-Orthodox Jews, who make up roughly 13 percent of Israeli society, have received exemptions if they are studying full-time in religious schools.

Late last month, Israel’s Supreme Court ordered an end to subsidies for many ultra-Orthodox men who do not serve in the military.

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