Israel faces shortage of soldiers after a year of Gaza war

Israel is facing a shortage of soldiers after more than a year into the Gaza war.

According to an AFP report, the Israeli army's reservists are exhausted and it is struggling to recruit soldiers just as it opens a new front in Lebanon.

Some 300,000 reservists have been called up since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, according to the army, 18 percent of them men over 40 who should have been exempted.

Military service is mandatory from the age of 18 for Israeli men and women, though several exemptions apply.

Israel is waging a multi-front war against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Since the military launched its ground offensive in Gaza on October 27 last year, it has lost 367 soldiers in the campaign, while 37 have died in Lebanon since Israel began ground operations there on September 30.

Furthermore, the rehabilitation department of the regime's ministry of war announced that since October 7, 2023, approximately 12,000 soldiers and security personnel have been injured during clashes with resistance forces.

Periods of reserve duty have been extended, and some reservists complain they are unable to go on with their normal lives for up to six straight months.