Defense Ministry: 1,152 soldiers fallen since October 7, over 40% were under age 21

Since Oct. 7, 1,152 Israeli soldiers have fallen, with over 40% under 21 years old, the Defense Ministry said, adding that more than 6,500 family members have joined Israel’s circle of bereavement.

The Defense Ministry published on Monday that 1,152 soldiers have fallen in battle since October 7, with over 40% being under the age of 21 and doing their mandatory military service.

The ministry expanded that 141 of the fallen were over the age of 40, while most deaths were members of the reserves, officials, soldiers who extended their service, or people who did their service after the mandatory age.

“Over 6,500 family members have been added to the bereaved family, including approximately 1,973 bereaved parents, 351 widows, 885 orphans, and 3,481 bereaved brothers and sisters,” the publication read.

The publication takes into account all the fronts on which Israel has been fighting, as well as every unit related to the country’s security, including IDF soldiers, the Israel Police, Shin Bet, special operations forces, and members of the readiness squads.

Bereaved siblings of fallen soldiers express lack of gov’t support

On September 25, a group of siblings from fallen soldiers told the Knesset IDF Human Resources Subcommittee panel that they lacked government support.

Arie Moalem, the head of the Defense Ministry’s Families, Commemoration, and Heritage Department, discussed the impact that the war has had and the spike in bereaved family members in the country since.

“The last two years of the war are like 26 years of work and 26 years of funerals,” he said.

“We have added more than 6,500 people to the circle of bereavement. We reached a peak of 90 funerals in a single day.”

The meeting was led by MK Elazar Stern (Yesh Atid), where bereaved family members spoke about various issues they have struggled with since the loss of their loved ones.

Keshet Neev contributed to this report.