More than 5,000 Israeli soldiers have been wounded in fighting in Gaza since 7 October, while Israeli officials are warning of a looming mental health crisis, an Israeli newspaper reported on Saturday.

Specialists from Israel's Ministry of Defence said its rehabilitation department had received 60 wounded soldiers every day since the start of the war in Gaza. 

Limor Luria, deputy director general and head of the ministry's Rehabilitation Department, told Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper that at least 2,000 Israeli soldiers had been declared disabled, with health officials "in a hurry to release the wounded so it can admit new patients".

"We have never faced something like this," Luria said, adding that 5,000 soldiers had been wounded since the start of the fighting. 

Luria also warned of a looming mental health crisis that will impact Israeli soldiers who come back from Gaza, saying that cases of post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma-related issues will "skyrocket" in the next few months. 

Idan Kaliman, who heads the Israeli army's disabled people's organisation, echoed Luria's concerns. 

"There is a huge mass of wounded here, even before the wave of post-trauma that will wash over us in about a year," Kaliman told Yedioth Ahronoth.