Far from being “invincible,” the IDF’s morale is broken. Snip:

After a year of committing genocide in Gaza, more and more Israeli soldiers are quietly refusing orders to return to the strip to fight, saying they are depressed, worn out, psychologically damaged, and unmotivated, according to a report by Ha-Makom magazine published on 20 October.

The ultra-Orthodox-oriented magazine interviewed multiple soldiers and parents of soldiers who refuse to return to Gaza. When a platoon of 30 soldiers of the Nahal Brigade was recently ordered to enter Gaza for the latest of several tours, only six reported for duty.

“I call it refusal and rebellion,” says Inbal, the mother of one of the soldiers in the platoon.

“They return to the same buildings that they cleaned, each time trapping them anew. They have been to Al-Zaytoun neighborhood three times already. They understand that it is futile and pointless.”

Although they had only a fifth of their personnel, the commander still insisted they enter Gaza.

  • GlueBear [they/them, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    1 month ago

    I mean some people that work at abattoirs have PTSD, it’s not unique to seeing humans slaughtered.

    I think both things are true. The same way someone who works in the business of slaughtering barn animals won’t go vegan or even vegetarian, even if they have PTSD.

    It’s got almost nothing to do with “seeing too much slaughter” in the case of the iof. It’s actually laughable (and sad) that some people on this site really think those people are somehow getting tired and traumatized by the genocide.

    The iof literally say why they’re feeling this way, it’s quoted in the article

    "They return to the same buildings that they cleaned, each time trapping them anew. They have been to Al-Zaytoun neighborhood three times already. They understand that it is futile and pointless.”

    They feel that they’re doing meaningless busy work that’s also getting them killed. Mind you, if they thought their slaughter was actually doing something they’ll happily keep it up so long as they’re not getting fucking washed by resistance fighters.

    • CarbonScored [any]@hexbear.net
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      1 month ago

      I’d argue it’s laughable and sad that some people on this site really think these people are entirely unable to get tired and traumatized by the genocide. We know that even the worst of the worst of WW2 Nazis couldn’t face gunning down their victims en masse, it’ll be little better for the IOF.

      Does it mean they’re good people who will protest genocide tomorrow? No. But it does mean they’re humans who will only physically take so much of doing it. Just because they’re a genocidal force that must be stopped doesn’t mean we need to deny they have innately human traits.

      • Chronographs@lemmy.zip
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        1 month ago

        To add to this, to paint Nazis, Israelis, anyone committing atrocities as inhuman monsters is to fool yourself into thinking there’s something different or other about them. This is just what happens when people grow up brainwashed into hate and conscripted into the army. Normal humans are going to feel bad butchering people, they’ll justify it to themselves and keep doing it but unless they’re psychopaths (which is uncommon) they’ll still have a physiological reaction.