Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has ordered the Israel Defense Forces to recall about 15,000 reservists who were discharged from active service in recent years but are still under 35 years old in order to strengthen the army’s personnel reserves, the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

“In light of an assessment of the situation and the extent of the activities of the regular and reserve forces, and as part of a process planned by the Israel Defense Forces to increase the pool of soldiers, the Minister of Defense ordered the recall to service of those reservists who were exempted from service in the past due to the force reduction and who are still of compulsory military service age,” the Israel Defense Forces said.

The question of personnel in the Israeli armed forces has been a constant point of discussion among the military, the political leadership and the public since the beginning of the war against Hamas terrorists last October.

The Israeli military lost hundreds of soldiers during the Hamas invasion on October 7, and has been losing dozens more every month since then in ground operations in the Gaza Strip. In total, the number of soldiers lost is around 680.

In addition, about 4,000 soldiers have been wounded in the course of the war since last October.

The increased operations in the south, the need to prepare for a confrontation with Hezbollah forces in Lebanon on the northern border, and a significant increase in anti-terrorist operations in Judea and Samaria have pushed the army to its limits.

The approximately 300,000 reservists who were called up after October 7 were mostly released after several months of service for economic reasons.

According to Israeli media reports, the Israeli military is now planning to establish another reserve division and reinforce the recently established reserve division under the Home Front Command.

The overall objective is to distribute and reduce the impact of the tasks of regular combat units deployed in different sectors every few months in peacetime.

Today, all of Israel’s borders have become high-risk sectors that are under constant threat. These include the Gaza Strip, the Gaza Strip itself, the borders with Lebanon and Syria, the Eilat area and the Egyptian border, the long border with Jordan along the Jordan Valley and the Arava Desert, and Judea and Samaria.

Yuli Edelstein, chairman of the Israeli Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, announced a bill last month that would allow the Israeli army to recall reservists previously exempted from service, particularly those who were exempted for reasons other than health or age.

Many of them have turned to the army in recent months and asked to be reinstated into active service.

In recent years, tens of thousands of soldiers have been discharged from the Israel Defense Forces. Many of them belonged to combat units that were either downsized or disbanded as part of the strategy to reduce the size of the Israel Defense Forces and improve their technological advancement.