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In a recent TV interview, Arkan Badr, a member of the DFLP Central Committee, said that hundreds of Israeli officers and soldiers had committed suicide after hearing terrifying stories from those who had returned wounded from Gaza. The interview aired on the Lebanese Al-Manar TV on August 10.
Following are excerpts:
Arkan Badr: Two days ago, the [Israeli daily] Haaretz wrote that the army suffered 880 fatalities and 1,860 wounded. This figure includes 166 suicides of Israeli soldiers and officers. They committed suicide so that they would not have to reach Gaza and have to face the Palestinian resistance fighters there.
166 of them committed suicide. A total of 311 Israeli soldiers and officers shot themselves to avoid reaching Gaza, because they heard terrifying stories from those who returned wounded but alive, and so they revolted.
Some deserted, and others committed suicide or shot themselves. The enemy suffered much greater losses than what we have been told.
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