Israel drafts 300,000 in reserve army in war against Hamas: What's its role?
Israel drafts 300,000 in reserve army in war against Hamas: What's its role?
Israel is mobilising lakhs of its reservists to fight against the Palestinian militant group Hamas that rules Gaza. Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant ordered a “complete siege” of the coastal enclave on Monday (9 October) after Hamas militants launched a surprise, multi-front attack on the West Asian country on the weekend.
Israel’s military spokesperson said that a record 300,000 reservists had been drafted in response to Hamas’s rocket strikes and infiltration of the country’s territory near Gaza. “We have never drafted so many reservists on such a scale,” Rear-Admiral Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), said, according to Reuters. “We are going on the offensive.”
What is Israel’s reserve army and how are they joining Israel’s “offensive” against Gaza? Let’s understand.
Israel’s reservists
Military service in Israel is a defining aspect of its “national ethos”, as per The Guardian. All Israeli citizens, aged 18 years or above, are required to serve in the military.
According to NDTV, religious women, married individuals, and those with mental or physical disabilities, are exempted from military service. Arab citizens of Israel are also not enlisted in the armed services, as per The Guardian report.
Almost all active-duty military personnel are transferred to the reserve force once they complete their regular service.
Army reservists, including women and men, in Israel are obligated by law to serve a fixed number of days until they turn 40. They are often asked by their officers to volunteer longer, as per Al Jazeera.
Israel’s small standing army is highly reliant on 465,000 reservists, who can be called up for around 60 days every year even in peacetime, The Guardian reported.
During an emergency, Israel can mobilise its entire reserve force. Reservists are treated as core combat troops in any major operation instead of as supplementary forces.
ALSO READ: How a drawn-out Israel-Hamas war could hurt the Indian economy
Israeli reservists fly home
Israel said it is arranging “special flights” to bring back its military reservists living overseas. Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, said the officials have received “many requests” from Israelis “all over the world” who want to return as quickly as possible.
“The many requests we have received from Israelis all over the world to return to Israel as soon as possible, to volunteer, to lend a hand, warms the heart,” Cohen said, as per The Telegraph. “This is the Israeli spirit – we will win.”
French media reported on Monday that Israeli-French reservists in France were leaving for Tel Aviv to join the Israeli army. This comes amid speculations of the Israeli military preparing for a major ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Israelis abroad were frantic to return home after the weekend attacks – either to join reserve units or to just be with their families, reported New York Times (NYT).
As many international airlines cancelled their flights to Israel ofter the attacks, reservists had to rely mostly on Israel’s national airline, El Al, to fly them back.
A special emergency flight from Peru has been arranged for Israeli reservists travelling in South and Central America, as per a Haaretz report. Funded by the Union of Jewish Federations of the United States, along with the Israeli embassies in the US and Latin America, the flight will depart from Peru on Tuesday (10 October) evening.
WhatsApp groups have been created for Israeli military reservists stranded in the US, France, Italy, Cyprus, Germany, Spain, Austria, Turkey, England and the Balkans, the report added.
Yotam Avrahami, a reservist who has lived in New York for four years, told NYT on the weekend that he spent $2,000 on a plane ticket to Israel. “It’s the thought that you have friends that will be in immediate danger, and you cannot help them”.
Former PM, actors and more
Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett joined troops after Israel declared war on the Hamas. In a footage shared on social media, he was seen shaking hands with Israeli soldiers as he arrived for the reserve duty.
Naftali Bennett, a former prime minister of Israel, arrives for reserve duty.
He has joined Israel’s soldiers on the frontlines to defend Israel. May he and all the soldiers stay safe.pic.twitter.com/2kuDAuazBy
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) October 7, 2023
Lior Raz, a famous Israeli actor popular for the TV series Fauda, shared videos on social media of him joining the military forces in the southern Israeli town of Sderot, which was infiltrated by Hamas gunmen on the weekend.
Israeli influencer Hananya Naftali said he is joining the 3 lakh-plus reservists in the fight against Hamas. “The reason we are deployed is not just to defend our borders, it’s literally to defend our homes and families. This is a war between good and evil,” he wrote on X.
The reason we are deployed is not just to defend our borders, it’s literally to defend our homes and families.
This is a war between good and evil. #IsraelUnderAttack pic.twitter.com/xNWmJmHhxX
— Hananya Naftali (@HananyaNaftali) October 9, 2023
The war between Israel and Gaza, which entered its fourth day today, has claimed at least 1,600 hundred lives on both sides. Israel has claimed that Hamas and other militant groups in Gaza are holding more than 150 soldiers and civilians hostage.
With inputs from agencies
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