Defense Ministry announces over 75,000 wounded, 13,500 during current war

More than 75,000 soldiers have been wounded in Israel’s wars, including nearly 13,500 in the current war, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

Israel’s national day for recognizing wounded soldiers is this Wednesday.

An estimated 20,000 soldiers would be wounded this year, the ministry said in April.

There was a significant drop in fighting between February and May, and in July, the Defense Ministry said about 14,000 soldiers would be wounded in 2024. About 9,250 soldiers had been wounded in nine months of fighting, it said in July.

The slight drop in wounded soldiers compared with the pace of wounded soldiers earlier in the war can be attributed to very little in terms of major ground forces’ battles since Hamas was defeated in Rafah in June and August.

Drop in wounded

While the second half of 2024 saw a drop in the pace of wounded soldiers, the current war still reflected a 20% increase compared with the year before the war.

This is in terms of soldiers, but the vast majority of those killed and wounded by Hamas during the October 7 massacre were civilians. The number of killed and wounded civilians dwarfed any comparative number for decades.

In general, the number of former soldiers who have sought recognition as wounded soldiers, including some of the social, economic, and therapy rights that come along with that recognition, has tripled to 19,500.

About 51% of those wounded in the current war are above the age of 30, 8,500 have physical wounds, and 43% are struggling with emotional harm, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

An estimated 3,350 soldiers’ primary issue is emotional, while thousands more have to cope with both physical and emotional harm.

About 1,300 have been given a PTSD designation, which is considered a more serious case of emotional harm. Experts generally assume PTSD is significantly underreported.

Some 14,320 soldiers have received at least minor levels of emotional therapy or treatment.

The Defense Ministry has streamlined much of the bureaucracy for being recognized as needing help, and there are 300 new technological treatment options for wounded soldiers.

In addition, 229 wounded soldiers already have special treatment dogs assigned to them for animal therapy, while another 168 requests for such therapy are being processed.

By 2030, the ministry expects to cross the 100,000 wounded soldier threshold, with about 50% of them suffering at least partially from emotional harm.

In July, the ministry said 70% of the wounded were reservists, while 30% were mandatory service or career officers.

Prior to the war, there were about 62,000 wounded soldiers from all prior wars and battles, of whom 18%, or 11,000, had emotional harm.

Of those 11,000, about 70%, or 8,000, had experienced emotional symptoms as their primary problem.

The IDF has said it was proud that 85% of its soldiers who have a potential mix of being physically or emotionally harmed by their war experiences are able to return to the battlefield.

Moreover, the IDF said it was proud that it has hired 850 new psychologists-therapists to handle increased emotional problems from the war.

Some experts and anecdotal evidence have raised questions about whether the atmosphere among these therapists and the battle commanders is truly conducive to handling issues such as PTSD properly, or whether there is undue pressure from senior officers to send soldiers back into battle even if they are only borderline stable.

Others have criticized the IDF for offering therapy mainly to frontline combat soldiers while ignoring the trauma to other kinds of soldiers who are witnessing or experiencing a variety of traumatic experiences during their service even if they technically are not combat fighters.