Israel is grappling with a dramatic increase in post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide among its troops after its two-year assault on Gaza, precipitated by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on southern Israel. Recent reports by the defense ministry and by health providers have detailed the military's mental health crisis.

The U.S-brokered ceasefire deal in Gaza is holding, after Hamas released the remaining Israeli hostages.

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Israel has reported a substantial increase in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide rates among its troops following the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack and subsequent military operations in Gaza. The Israeli Defense Ministry noted a nearly 40% rise in PTSD cases since September 2023, with projections indicating a 180% increase by 2028. An Israeli parliamentary committee found that 279 soldiers attempted suicide between January 2024 and July 2025, with combat soldiers comprising the majority of cases.

Mental health professionals attribute the trauma to both the fear and helplessness experienced in combat, as well as the moral injury from causing civilian casualties. The process for soldiers to receive state mental health support can be lengthy, deterring some from seeking help, though NGOs and therapy programs are providing alternative support. The ongoing conflict has also resulted in significant casualties and displacement in Gaza, with Palestinian mental health experts reporting widespread psychological trauma.

Israel sees spike in PTSD and suicide among troops as war persists

In Bat Yam, on Israel's Mediterranean coast, a female veteran walks into the sea with her surfboard. She's taking part in a surfing therapy program for those coping with post-traumatic stress disorder following military service. Her military base was overrun during the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. Wow, I just felt fear, crazy fear. It's a feeling that can't be explained in words. Anyone who wasn't there will never understand that feeling, that sense that any second I could die. At night, when it was hard to fall asleep and there were nightmares, mood swings, it hit me quite immediately. Even my family felt that something was happening, that it wasn't the same anymore. Israel is grappling with a dramatic increase in PTSD and suicide among its troops after its two-year assault on Gaza following the October 7 attack. Israel's Defense Ministry has recorded a nearly 40 percent increase in PTSD cases since September 2023, predicting it will increase by 180 percent by 2028. An Israeli parliamentary committee also found in October that 279 soldiers had attempted suicide from January 2024 to July 2025, a sharp increase from previous years. The report also found that combat soldiers comprised 78 percent of all suicide cases in Israel in 2024. Ronen Sidi, a clinical psychologist who directs combat veteran research at Emek Medical Center, says soldiers are generally grappling with two different sources of trauma. I think we can talk in general about two aspects of trauma that many times they're combined together. One of them is the aspect of the soldier as a victim, with deep experiences of fear, helplessness, and feeling very vulnerable and weak, being afraid to die. And another aspect of it is of the soldier not as a victim but as a perpetrator. And too many times soldiers have to take split-second decisions whether to fire at someone who seems to be a terrorist and firing at them, but he's surrounded with women and children. And then women and children are injured and killed by accident. And living with the feeling that you have killed innocent people when you're 19 is a very difficult feeling. You can't correct what you have done. And this is what we call moral injury. A soldier seeking state support for their mental health must appear before a defense ministry assessment committee, which determines the severity of their case. That process can take months and can deter soldiers from seeking help, some trauma professionals say. Others have received help from organizations such as Hagel Shelley. The NGO, which uses surfing as a therapy technique, has taken on hundreds of soldiers and reservists suffering from PTSD, while some former soldiers have therapy dogs. Israeli forces have killed more than 71,000 Palestinians in Gaza and 4,400 in southern Lebanon, according to Gazan and Lebanese health officials. Israel says more than 1,100 service members have been killed since October 7. The war has left much of Gaza destroyed and its 2 million people displaced. Palestinian mental health specialists have said Gazans are suffering, quote, a volcano of psychological trauma.

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Israel sees spike in PTSD and suicide among troops as war persists

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