TEHRAN - A growing number of Israeli soldiers are refusing to re-enlist with the Israeli military amid the regime’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.

Reports have surfaced in Hebrew media this week that at least another 20 soldiers have refused to return to Gaza. 

Military service is compulsory in Israel. Those who decide not to join the Israeli occupation forces are aware that they may end up in prison. 

Since October 7, there have been very rare cases where soldiers have gone public on Western media explaining the atrocities being committed by the IOF against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza as the reason for deciding to spend time behind bars instead. 

These cases are believed to be rare because the soldiers draw the wrath of Israeli society and its military which is punishing deserters much more harshly now. 

According to some of those who have decided against joining the Israeli military’s genocide in Gaza, the IOF prison system is filled with soldiers refusing to serve in the coastal strip. 

According to IOF soldiers, many of them are reservists but also troops with elite units. The Israeli punishment of prison time, which is meant as a deterrent, is failing as some have served multiple prison sentences since October 7. 

Nevertheless, it appears to be an unpopular move among the Israeli settler society, which has always been very right-wing and very militaristic, in particular among the younger generation. 

This week, Hebrew media reported that at least 20 more soldiers have refused to serve in the ongoing war in Gaza, which has been aided and abetted by the United States. 

According to the Israeli public broadcaster, Kan, the IOF will put dozens of soldiers on trial over their refusal to return to the Gaza Strip. 

According to reports, the families of some soldiers have been cited by the broadcaster as saying, “There are only a few soldiers left in their company who are capable of fighting. This is our time as parents to help them confront a system that does not care about them.”

There is a growing perception among the IOF that it cannot achieve “total victory” against Hamas as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged in October last year and has repeatedly vowed to do so since. 

This position has been echoed by former and present Israeli generals as well as military officials in the United States. The 
former head of the Israeli spy agency Mossad, Danny Yatom, told the Hebrew Maariv newspaper earlier this year that “we are unable to achieve the goals of the war in the north [Lebanon] and the south [Gaza]”.

For the younger Israeli generation and its militaristic mindset, experts say the problem lies in the regime’s education system and the way that this generation has been brought up to look at Palestinians as unequal human beings. 

The IOF does not publish the number of soldiers that do not re-enlist. Analysts believe it is a high figure. Those who speak publicly about refusing to return to the genocidal war in Gaza face a prison sentence of at least 40 days. 

Very few have gone public in fear of the punishment but those who have publicly stated about refusing to re-enlist say that they have been summoned by the IOF on more than one occasion since October last year to spend another 40-day prison sentence.

The IOF's indiscriminate bombardment and many other crimes in Gaza have faced global condemnation, outrage by UN agencies and opened a trial of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

According to human rights organizations, Tel Aviv is not complying with the preliminary order of the ICJ to prevent the act of genocide. 

After 330 days, the total number of Palestinians killed since the Israeli onslaught started on October 7 is creeping toward 41,000, and those injured stand at almost 94,000. 

While some injured victims are transported to partially functioning hospitals and medical centers, others remain trapped beneath the rubble, with defense and rescue crews unable to reach them, according to the Gaza health ministry.