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IDF Troops Face Serious Injuries in Gaza War
(Telegraph-UK) Samuel Lovett - The number of Israeli troops suffering severe injuries in Gaza is twice as high as in the nation's last major conflict - the Second Lebanon War in 2006, said Col. Avi Banov, Deputy Surgeon General of the IDF Medical Corps. This "war is far more dangerous, far more harmful," highlighting the street-to-street nature of the fighting. A quarter of the 2,784 soldiers wounded since Oct. 7 have been severely injured, "compared to 12%" when Israel and Hizbullah fought in 2006. "We're also facing way more enemies in a much smaller area, and these are military-graded terrorists....In the past four months we have had more casualties than we have had in the past four decades." In today's war, 557 soldiers have died, including those who were killed during the Oct. 7 attacks. Most of the injuries sustained by IDF troops in Gaza are a result of explosive weapons, such as IEDs and rocket-launched grenades, which "cause more damage. Although soldiers are equipped with military-grade battle gear that protects the torso, their limbs and faces are left vulnerable to shrapnel released during explosions. "We do not see a lot of chest injuries but we see penetrating injuries to the limbs, which can require amputation. We see injuries to eyes, too." At the same time, the IDF is losing fewer men to injuries than it used to. The fatality rate was 6.5-7%, compared to 13-15% in the Second Lebanon War.