IDF says number of troop suicides has risen during war, with hundreds of thousands in reserves

The IDF says it has seen a rise in the number of suspected suicides in the military amid the war, as it releases statistics of its fatalities from the past two years.

According to the IDF’s data, 38 soldiers are believed to have taken their own lives in 2023 and 2024 — 28 of them after the October 7, 2023, onslaught that started the ongoing war. In 2022, the IDF recorded 14 suicides and in 2021 it recorded 11.

Unsurprisingly due to war in the Gaza Strip and fighting in Lebanon and on other fronts, the number of deaths in the IDF in 2023 and 2024 has been the highest in decades.

According to the IDF, 558 soldiers were killed in 2023, including 512 during “operational activity” — apparently including the hundreds who were killed during Hamas’s October 7 onslaught — and three in terror attacks.

Sixteen soldiers died in accidents — two in training, four in civilian car crashes, five in military car crashes, one as a result of an accidental weapon discharge, and four in other incidents — and 10 died from illness in 2023.

In 2023, the IDF says that 17 soldiers were believed to have taken their own lives. They include seven conscripts, four career soldiers, and six reservists. Seven of the suspected suicides in 2023 were after the October 7 onslaught.

During the past year, the total number of fatalities in the IDF has decreased compared to 2023, but the number of suicides has risen, according to the IDF’s data.

In 2024, the IDF recorded a total of 363 deaths in the military, including 295 in operational activity amid the war and 11 in terror attacks.

Twenty-three soldiers died in accidents — 17 in civilian car crashes, three in military car crashes, and three in other incidents — and 13 died by illness in 2024.

In 2024, the IDF says at least 21 soldiers died by suspected suicide — including seven conscripts, two career soldiers, and 12 reservists.

The high number of reservist suicides is explained by the IDF calling up nearly 300,000 reservists during the war.

All of the 38 suspected suicides in 2023 and 2024 were male.

The IDF says it is working to prevent suicides in the military, including by opening a 24/7 helpline, which has received over 3,900 calls since it was established in October 2023. The IDF has also called up over 800 reservist mental health officers amid the war.

Since the beginning of the war, the IDF says 891 soldiers have died, not all of them in combat. They include 329 during the October 7 onslaught, at least 390 during fighting in Gaza, 37 in attacks on northern Israel, 50 during fighting inside Lebanon, and 11 in the West Bank.