TEHRAN - Reports that have surfaced on the large number of American citizens killed while fighting for the Israeli regime in its genocidal war against the people of Gaza have raised controversy.

The Israeli military says more than 23,000 American citizens are currently serving in its ranks. The Washington Post also reports thousands of American soldiers and American/Israeli soldiers are fighting in Tel Aviv’s devastating war on Gaza, where multiple war crimes have been committed against the Palestinian population. 

The Washington Post highlights while U.S. citizens make up less than 2 percent of the entire Israeli settler population, Americans account for about 10 percent of all Israeli military fatalities since the start of the Israeli ground invasion of the Gaza Strip in late October. 

The casualty figures are believed to be based on the U.S. embassy in occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem), and data released by the Israeli military. Tel Aviv has been widely accused of downplaying its casualties in the Gaza Strip to avoid any loss of “morale”, which means the real number of U.S. military fatalities in the Strip could be considerably higher. 

The number of U.S. military personnel injured in the Gaza Strip has not been reported on and remains unknown. Israeli media have indicated that the regime’s military has suffered thousands of injured soldiers since the ground invasion, which would raise the possibility of many U.S. servicepersons sustaining injuries. 

America’s political support and backing for the Israeli regime and its war on Gaza has long been in the public eye. 

U.S. military backing for the regime, such as arms supplies, deployment of aircraft carriers to the region (to shield the Tel Aviv regime from other fronts opening up), or U.S. drones flying over Gaza (for alleged surveillance purposes) has also been widely documented, which is why the U.S. stands accused of direct complicity in Israeli war crimes against Palestinians. 

However, the issue of American soldiers fighting in Gaza has been officially clouded in mystery along with a very high level of secrecy by the White House, which regularly speaks about six “American hostages” held in Gaza but never talks about “American soldiers” fighting in Gaza. 

The Washington Post spoke to the families of the U.S. servicepersons killed while fighting for the Israeli regime. Other news outlets have also reported on the same issue. 

Activists have questioned the complicity of the U.S. citizens who are likely to have been involved in Israeli crimes or war crimes on the ground against Palestinians in the blockaded Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank since October last year. 

Many on social media are demanding that Americans participating in the war on Gaza to be put on trial. 

James Zoabi, an American academic who is of Lebanese descent, raises the question of whether there are any restrictions on the participation of American citizens in the war crimes of the Israeli army in Gaza. 

In a post on social media, Zoabi states that there are many Israeli residents with American citizenship who commit crimes against Palestinians. 

One American national interviewed by the Washington Post noted that every day, it becomes more evident why the former U.S. Air Force airman Aaron Bushnell committed self-immolation while chanting “Free Palestine” outside the Israeli embassy in Washington DC. 

U.S. media reports, citing one of Bushnell’s friends, indicated that Bushnell had confidential information about the presence of American forces in Gaza who were involved in the massacre of Palestinians. 

Another former friend said, “He died to shine a spotlight on the horrors of the genocide in Gaza, and the complicity that we (Americans) share as military members”. 

The U.S. is playing a very influential role in the disastrous Israeli war on Gaza that has so far killed and injured at least 100,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom are women and children. 

The American backing for the regime, with even soldiers in Gaza, has enabled the regime to kill, maim, and starve the Palestinians with impunity.