FALCON POWERS – Three Israeli reserve soldiers who fought in the war on Gaza have affirmed that they do not want to return to fight in the enclave again, and “will not be part of the Israeli army.”
The Israeli military medic Yuval Green said that an order he received to burn down a house made him decide to end his reserve service.
Green spent 50 days in the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip earlier this year with the paratrooper unit, where he slept in a house lit by batteries amidst the ruins and destruction.
According to his testimony, Green had begun to doubt the purpose of the unit’s presence there when he heard about Israel’s refusal to meet Hamas’ demands to end the war and release the hostages. Green is one of three Israeli reserve soldiers who told the British “Observer” newspaper that they will not return if they are called up for military service in Gaza.
Cycle of Violence
The three had previously completed their compulsory military service in the Israeli army, and returned to it after the attacks on October 7th.
However, the behavior that Green said he witnessed from other Israeli soldiers only fueled the doubts that had been troubling him, as he was “overwhelmed by despair” at what he called the “cycle of violence” in Gaza.
He said: “I saw the soldiers drawing on the walls of the houses or stealing all the time. They would enter the houses for military reasons to search for weapons, but it was more fun for them when they were looking for souvenirs, as they were obsessed with the necklaces bearing Arabic inscriptions that they would collect.”
