Israel allegedly recruiting African asylum seekers for Gaza siege in exchange for residency

Israel has allegedly been recruiting African asylum seekers for military operations in Gaza, offering them the incentive of permanent residency in the country, according to an investigation by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. 

The report, based on testimonies from asylum seekers and defence officials, alleged that Israel’s defence establishment is utilising asylum seekers to bolster its military efforts in exchange for the promise of permanent status—though no official residency has reportedly been granted so far.

Haaretz cited accounts from defence insiders who claimed that African asylum seekers, many of whom have been living in Israel without permanent status, were approached by security officials with offers to join military operations in Gaza, often under life-threatening conditions.

Internal criticisms regarding the ethics of this practice have largely been silenced, with one source describing the situation as “very problematic.”

A key testimony cited by Haaretz involved a man, identified only as A, who arrived in Israel at the age of 16.

He recalled receiving a phone call from someone claiming to be a police officer who instructed him to report to a security facility without explanation.

A. said he was told that if he agreed to participate in the war effort, he could receive documentation providing residency rights in Israel.

Smoke rises following an Israeli strike on a residential building, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, in this still picture taken from a video, July 24, 2024. (Photo: Reuters TV via REUTERS)

They reportedly confirmed A.’s version, saying that “the defence establishment has made use of asylum seekers in various operations.”

“Haaretz also learned that the Interior Ministry explored the possibility of drafting the children of asylum seekers, who were educated in Israeli schools, into the IDF,” the report concluded.

There are currently an estimated 30,000 African asylum seekers in Israel, most of them young men. Haaretz further reported that the Interior Ministry had explored the possibility of drafting the children of asylum seekers—many of whom have been educated in Israeli schools—into the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

The report also comes amid a larger crisis within Israel’s military, which Defence Minister Yoav Gallant addressed in July.

Gallant revealed that the army urgently needed 10,000 additional soldiers to support its operations in Gaza, stating that efforts were being made to recruit ultra-Orthodox males as part of the solution.

This followed a June ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court, which mandated that ultra-Orthodox Jews must be included in the military draft.

However, despite these recruitment efforts, concerns remain over the ethical implications of targeting asylum seekers for such roles.