The African asylum seekers fighting for Israel in Gaza

Offer of permanent residency for military service condemned as unethical as Israel seeks to address shortage of soldiers

Photo collage of a Sudanese refugee camp, an Israeli soldier, and various paper ephemera including vintage conscription papers
(Image credit: Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images)

Israel has been recruiting African asylum seekers to take part in military operations in Gaza in exchange for permanent residency, according to off-the-record briefings by Israeli defence officials.

Recruitment is being conducted in an "organised manner" with the "guidance of defence establishment legal advisers", said an exclusive report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

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