JERUSALEM / ISTANBUL
An Israeli reserve officer from the Givati Brigade died by suicide on Thursday, after suffering from severe psychological distress linked to his participation in Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip, local media reported.
According to the daily Israel Hayom, the 28-year-old officer, identified as Thomas Edzgoscus, took his own life after what it described as “a mental battle or due to post-traumatic stress disorder, tied to his involvement in the fighting in Israeli settlements around Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, and later during ground operations inside the enclave.”
The officer had recently written on social media that he “could no longer continue living” and felt “destroyed and lost,” without providing details about the circumstances of his death.
At the end of October, official Israeli data showed 279 suicide attempts in the military in around 18 months, with 36 soldiers dying by suicide in that period. A recent army review found that most cases were linked to harsh conditions experienced by troops in Gaza.
A ceasefire that took effect Oct. 10 this year was supposed to halt the war, but Israel has violated it daily, resulting in hundreds more casualties.
Israel also continues to restrict food and medicine entering Gaza, where some 2.4 million Palestinians face dire humanitarian conditions, the Gaza government media office said.
Israel has killed more than 70,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured nearly 171,000 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023.