Rats bit two soldiers until they bled last night (Monday) in a camp at the Amiad base in the Upper Galilee.
According to a report by Yair Kraus on Ynet, only about eight hours later were the soldiers evacuated by the army to receive medical treatment at the Safed Medical Center, where they were vaccinated against rabies.
The unusual incident occurred early in the morning, when a group of soldiers were sleeping in a tent at the military base. Two of the soldiers woke up in a panic with their faces covered in blood.
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They told their friends that rats "tried to eat them.".
One soldier was wounded in his ear and another soldier was bitten in his nose.
Dr. Lilach Versano, trauma coordinator at Ziv Medical Center in Safed: "The young people came to us this morning in mild condition and after thorough disinfection, we gave them, according to the Ministry of Health guidelines, an active vaccine and a passive vaccine to protect against rabies.".
She explained that, in addition to continuing antibiotic treatment, the soldiers will be required to come to the Ministry of Health office in three days and receive additional vaccination shots to prevent the incurable rabies disease.
""Since October 7, we have often seen injuries to soldiers from mice and rats and animals that come into contact with them," noted Dr. Versano. Rats, like other rodents, can be dangerous because they are potential carriers of infectious diseases, including rabies.
A parent of one of the soldiers from the military unit told Ynet: "The soldiers were literally eaten by rats. It's shocking and shameful.".
He described that his son did not want to share and expand on the details of the incident, but as the parent of a young soldier, he expects such incidents to not occur. "The pictures I saw this morning of soldiers with bloody faces make me ashamed of the army's inability to protect what is most precious to us.".
He said, "As parents of a soldier in the field, almost our only concern is hostile activity by our enemies. It never occurred to me for a moment that my son could be harmed or be in danger because the army does not provide him with basic hygiene conditions.".
The IDF Spokesperson's Office reported that after receiving medical treatment, the soldiers were released from the hospital. The IDF notes that "pest control was carried out in the residential area last month, and it will be renewed during the coming week.".
