2023-12-27 17:03:57
The war against Hamas will last “many more months”, Israeli Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi warned on Tuesday (26), emphasizing that its objectives “are not easy to achieve”. More than 300,000 reserve soldiers are mobilized in the conflict in the Gaza Strip. Although these soldiers received financial compensation for leaving their jobs to fight, this is not the case for their wives, who find themselves home alone with their children.
Published on: 27/12/2023 – 16:03Modified on: 27/12/2023 – 16:13
3 min
Hajera Mohammade and Eric Audra, special envoys from RFI to Jerusalem.
Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also announced an “intensification” of attacks on the Gaza Strip, where telecommunications were partially restored on Wednesday (27), after being cut the previous day, from agreement with the Palestinian operator Paltel. Amidst so many inconveniences, those who stayed at home also suffer the consequences of the war.
While her husband Yohanan is at war, Levanna Botbol has to manage everything at home, starting with the children. “We have five children aged between 3 and 12. Of course this changes everything, because my husband is usually here in the morning. He’s the one who takes care of them, wakes them up and dresses them. Now I have to do both jobs,” she says The RFI.
Levanna also works as an Information Technology (IT) engineer. Without her husband at home, she started working from home.
Or work, or family
But other women had to choose between work and family. This is the case of Anëlle, mother of three children. “I’m a speech therapist and I haven’t been back to work since October 7th, because I can’t keep up with everything. As I’m self-employed, that means we don’t get paid anymore. It’s (less) 6 thousand shekels a month. It’s complicated”, says Anëlle, referring to With the converted income, it would be around R$5,350.
A convoy of Israeli soldiers near the border between Israel and Gaza on December 25, 2023. AP – Leo Correa
Around 4,000 wives of reserve soldiers joined the association launched by lawyer Sapir Bloser, herself a companion of a soldier, which aims to appeal to the government. “We are asking for three things. The first is financial compensation. The second is job protection, because, unfortunately, some women were placed on unpaid leave or were fired. And the third is psychological help”, explains the lawyer.
Faced with growing anger and dissatisfaction among the affected women, one of the Israeli Army’s spokespersons recognized, earlier this week, the burden borne by these families and assured that the government would be working on a compensation system to support them.
Israel’s presence in Gaza
According to a think-tank survey Jewish People Policy Institute (Jewish People’s Policy Institute) published in late November, 44% of the Israeli Jewish population is in favor of an Israeli “civil presence” in Gaza after the war.
More than 21,000 people, mostly women, teenagers and children, were killed in Israeli military operations in Gaza, launched in response to an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israeli territory on October 7, which left around 1,140 people dead, most of them civilians.
(RFI and AFP)
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