Israel’s military is grappling with a sharp increase in suicides among its personnel during the Gaza conflict. Haaretz, citing defence-force data, says at least 15 soldiers have taken their own lives since January, compared with 21 in all of 2024 and roughly 43 since the war began on 7 October 2023. Most of the recent cases involve reservists who returned from extended combat tours in Gaza and southern Lebanon. The latest wave began on 6 July, when 24-year-old reservist Daniel Edri set himself on fire inside his vehicle in the Biriya Forest near Safed. Edri, who had transported casualties during months of fighting and lost two childhood friends in the 7 October attack, left a note describing recurrent visions and the “smell of corpses.” His family said he had repeatedly sought psychiatric care. Within ten days, two more soldiers died by suicide: a member of the Golani Brigade who shot himself at the Sde Teiman base hours after a Military Police interrogation, and a Nahal Brigade serviceman found dead at a post in the occupied Golan Heights, according to Channel 12. On 15 July, a paratrooper trainee was hospitalised in critical condition after an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, marking the fourth such incident in that period. The Israel Defense Forces have opened investigations into each case, and lawmakers are pressing for an emergency Knesset session on mental-health resources. Military psychologists say prolonged deployments, repeated reserve call-ups and exposure to heavy casualties are straining support systems designed for peacetime levels of stress.