Suicides Surge: 11 Israeli Soldiers, Police Dead in April – Report
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11 suicides among Israeli soldiers and police in April as mental health crisis deepens due to Gaza genocide, wars.
Key Developments
- 11 Israeli soldiers and police died by suicide in April, according to Haaretz data.
- Six were active-duty soldiers; three were reservists; two were police officers.
- Haaretz reported 22 soldier suicides in all of 2025, underscoring the scale of the increase.
At least 11 Israeli soldiers and police personnel have died by suicide since the beginning of April, according to a report published on Sunday by Haaretz.
According to the report, six of those who died were active-duty soldiers, while three were reservists who had taken part in the genocide in Gaza but were not in active service at the time of their deaths.
Two additional cases involved Israeli police officers, including a Border Police conscript.
The report also notes that at least 10 active-duty soldiers have died by suicide since the beginning of 2026, a separate figure that refers only to serving soldiers and excludes reservists and police.
Trend Since Genocide
The latest figures add to a broader trend identified in previous reporting by Haaretz, which has documented a rise in suicides among Israeli soldiers since the start of the Gaza genocide.
In a February 2026 feature, the newspaper reported that soldiers who served in Gaza later died by suicide, including cases not formally recognized as military deaths.
The report pointed to psychological distress following deployment, including cases occurring after soldiers had completed their service.
Haaretz had reported that 22 Israeli soldiers died by suicide in 2025, the highest number in 15 years.
The April 2026 figure alone—11 cases across soldiers and police—amounts to roughly half of the total recorded for the entire previous year.
According to the Haaretz investigation, the rise in suicides is linked to sustained psychological pressure on personnel, particularly during prolonged military operations over the past three years.
Previous reporting has also referred to “moral injury” and trauma among soldiers who served in Gaza.
Gaza Genocide
The developments come amid Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, marked by the mass killing of Palestinian civilians and the widespread destruction of the enclave.
According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, at least 72,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023, including over 21,000 children.
UN data further indicates that more than 38,000 women and girls have been killed, reflecting the disproportionate impact on civilians.
Entire neighborhoods have been leveled, and thousands of victims remain trapped under rubble, with the overall death toll widely considered an undercount.
Independent studies suggest that the true number of deaths may be significantly higher when accounting for those missing or killed indirectly due to the collapse of healthcare, hunger, and disease.
