Mothers of Israeli soldiers call for stop to Lebanon war
In a letter Friday to the Israeli military’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, mothers of soldiers called for an end to the further ground offensive into Lebanon.
The group, Parents of Combat Soldiers, includes 600 military parents. The letter said the military was receiving orders from politicians who are ready to “sacrifice” its children, and urged Zamir to focus on a political solution. “Four soldiers have already been killed in Lebanon, how many more will sacrifice their lives in vain?!” said the letter.
Israel has moved thousands of troops across the border into Lebanon, where Israeli officials said they want to take control of the entire area south of the Litani River — some 30 kilometers north of the border.
The Israeli army announced the death in combat on Thursday of a soldier in south Lebanon, just hours after reporting another death from its ranks, raising the death toll of soldiers in south Lebanon to 4.
On Friday, an Israeli soldier and a combat officer were evacuated to a hospital after being severely injured during an "operational accident" in southern Lebanon.
The Israeli military said it requires additional troops for deployment in southern Lebanon.
Israel's main opposition leader Yair Lapid accused the government Thursday of steering Israel toward a "security disaster" due to a shortage of combat soldiers.
"The IDF (army) is stretched to the limit and beyond. The government is leaving the army wounded out on the battlefield," Lapid said in a televised statement, echoing a warning delivered a day earlier by Zamir to the security cabinet.
"The government is sending the army into a multi-front war without a strategy, without the necessary means, and with far too few soldiers," Lapid said.
Source: Associated Press
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