• Israel’s months of planning and training have not paid off
• How Israel’s clumsiness in Gaza may shed new light on disorderly events on October 7
According to The Times of Israel and multiple Israeli news outlets, the IDF has admitted that at least 20 Israeli soldiers have been killed by friendly fire or by accidents. More specifically, 13 have been killed by friendly fire, and another killed by a stray bullet, while another 5 were killed either by being run over by an armoured vehicle or by some other accident. There was even one death that the IDF reported that happened because of an Israeli airstrike. Does this not create questions about the reality of the bombing that is taking place in Gaza? More than eighteen thousand people have been killed in Gaza, including 8,000 children, with the UN describing Gaza as ‘Hell on earth’. Only two days ago, surprisingly, even the United States said Israel is starting to lose support in the world ‘by the indiscriminate bombing that is taking place’. This was a significant shift in President Joe Biden’s stance on Israel, with a sign that unless the indiscriminate bombing stops, the US may be forced to act on global opinions to call for a ceasefire. Amongst American citizens alone, opinions have also starkly shifted, with 61% of Americans now calling for a permanent ceasefire and a de-escalation of violence. Even the pro-Israel camp majority is calling for a ceasefire. However, unfortunately, the majority of US lawmakers who have the power to enact such a thing are against the preposition of a ceasefire and actually continue to support Israel’s war. Only a mere 11% of Congress is against the war and is calling for a ceasefire.
What effect could this have on the Israeli military in Gaza?
All in all, regardless of our opinions about the United States elite, it is fair to say that the morale of the Israeli military has been weakening, with more than 2,000 now reported to have received psychological assistance since the outbreak of the war. This news only exacerbates the fear and trauma that the Israeli soldiers are feeling. For an Israeli soldier to know that they may be bombed by an Israeli airstrike is another fear that many soldiers would not have expected. This, in addition to the countless unexpected ambushes from the resistance, such as the ambush on Tuesday of 10 soldiers, may make this fear transcend into inaction due to the risk of death or being permanently disabled. It is now official that two thousand Israeli soldiers are disabled because of the war on Gaza, with more than 5,000 injured. For a frontline soldier to just know that his friend may or may not be okay after receiving injuries may also make him think twice about making any more attempted advances in Gaza. All things considered, we can conclude that the morale of the Israeli military has been weakening, and these incidents of friendly fire will only increase the morale dip.
Israeli media reports more than 5000 Israeli soldiers wounded since the start of the war in Gaza
How these incidents may play into the reality of October 7th
Although the Israeli military has said that ‘efforts are constantly being made to stop casualties from friendly fire’ this is likely not the first time it may have happened. The IDF did not deny that friendly fire occurred on October 7 but rather acknowledged it and said that it would not be morally sound to investigate these incidents due to the immense and complex quantity that took place’. This means that the Israeli military has literally taken a step back to investigate the potential deaths caused by a potentially high-level decision from higher-level generals and officers who organised such a disorderly campaign. Is it because they fear the repercussions the Israeli military elite will face if the truth is exposed, or is it something even more sinister? Is it because they fear that the reality of civilian casualties can be somewhat attributed to them? If so, the entire genocide in Gaza that is being committed in front of our very eyes could have been because of a series of lies and exaggerations from October 7th. After months of training in Gaza, a region battered, with more than half of the buildings damaged, the IDF was not able to keep friendly fire to a minimum, with almost one fifth of all Israeli casualties being because of friendly fire or accidents after the addition of US training before the land invasion. This means that the clumsiness of the Israeli military may well have caused the fatalities of not a few but multiple Israeli civilians on October 7th.
