Total chaos among Israeli military ranks in Gaza: Former army general

Former Israeli Maj. Gen. Itzhak Brik revealed on Saturday the "total chaos" suffered by soldiers in the Gaza Strip in terms of the availability of equipment and logistical services needed for war.

Brik, a former military general, told the Israeli daily Maariv about the "total chaos in Israeli army ranks that is not talked about in the media.”

He said “the equipment, logistics, food, and everything needed to move us forward is not working, because the army has entrusted everything to private companies."

“There is no one to repair the tanks immediately, dozens of tanks are stuck in the Gaza Strip waiting to be withdrawn,” he added.

The former Israeli general noted that “of course, the media does not talk about this, but the equipment does not work."

Brik pointed out that he has met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu six times since the start of the war on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7.

“But his staff did not want him (Netanyahu) to hear the truth, so they kept him away from me,” he said, adding: “I told him that the army is not ready to go immediately to war, because there are soldiers who have not trained for five years and there is a shortage of equipment."

"I told him to let them train and prepare themselves, because the public is now the one buying equipment. Fortunately, he listened to that, called the Minister of Defense (Yoav Galant), and delayed entry into Gaza for two weeks,” he said.

Since the start of the Israeli ground operation in Gaza on Oct. 27, 237 Israeli soldiers have been killed.

A total of 576 Israeli soldiers have been killed since the launch of the Israeli onslaught against Gaza on Oct. 7 following the Hamas attack.

The ensuing Israeli bombardment killed over 29,600 Palestinians and injured about 69,737 with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

* Writing by Ikram Kouachi