Israeli soldier’s Knesset speech reveals haunting aftermath of service in Gaza

“I smell the scent of corpses, I gathered the injured with my hands.” Avihai Levi, an Israeli soldier who served in a prior war in Gaza, gave a speech in the Knesset on Tuesday, detailing the symptoms caused by the mental trauma he suffered from his service. He spoke about living in constant fear, experiencing night terrors, and needing to rely on alcohol consumption to cope with traumatic memories. Levi made the comments in a meeting with the Knesset’s Labor and Welfare Committee, where a representative of the Defense Ministry’s Rehabilitation Division told lawmakers that her department will not be able to keep up with new patients from the current war and that the ministry failed to establish a separate department for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Subscribe to our channel: Subscribe to MEE Telegram channel to stay up to date: Middle East Eye Website: Follow us on TikTok: @middleeasteye Follow us on Instagram: Like us on Facebook: Follow us on Twitter: