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Speaking on the Monday Night Club, former Premier League defender Nedum Onouha says new Tottenham head coach Roberto De Zerbi is right to focus on raising morale rather than tactics as he looks to keep the club in the Premier League.

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Israel’s Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir issued a stark warning to the country’s cabinet this week: unless urgent measures are taken, the Israeli army is on the brink of collapse.

According to a report by Israel’s Channel 13 on Thursday, Zamir told ministers that he was “raising 10 red flags”, urging the government to move quickly on long-delayed legislation to alleviate the strain on its “exhausted” military.

The army has been overseeing what rights groups and the United Nations have determined is a genocide in Gaza, the de facto annexation of the occupied West Bank and numerous incursions into Lebanon and Syria.

Addressing ministers, Zamir stressed the need for a “conscription law, a reserve duty law, and a law to extend mandatory service”, adding that without these measures, “before long, the [Israeli military] will not be ready for its routine missions and the reserve system will not last”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since said that plans will be made to extend mandatory military service. However, this is not the first time the alarm has been raised that the military is straining under the pressure of repeated operations, which have seen it involved in the killings of tens of thousands of civilians across the Middle East.

The first came as early as June 2024, just eight months into the genocidal war on Gaza, when France24 reported on shortfalls in troop numbers, exhaustion and a lack of supplies.

That situation has only worsened since.

So, how large was the army before October 2023, how active has it been and how has the current era of unprecedented regional aggression sapped the military’s reserves? Here is what we know.

How suited is the Israeli army to its country’s forever wars?

Not very.

Launched in 1948, the idea of an Israeli military made up of a relatively small standing army backed by a large reserve corps of mobilised citizenry was the plan from the outset in order to instil a narrative of social cohesion, national identity and shared responsibility within the new country’s populace. Reservists would move between civilian life and military service to achieve this.

Before the war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, Israel’s standing army numbered just 100,000. This was immediately bolstered by calling up 300,000 reservists, pulling Israel’s “citizen soldiers” from their jobs and families to take part in the bombardment and ground invasion of Gaza in response to the Hamas-led assault on southern Israel.

Ultimately, this means that the majority of troops serving are reservists rather than career soldiers.

Where are Israeli troops now?

On March 1, the day after US-Israeli strikes on Iran began, Israel announced the mobilisation of another 100,000 reserve soldiers.

That was in addition to 50,000 reservists currently on duty as a result of the Gaza war.

At the time, military sources said the additional troops would bolster existing positions along the border with Lebanon, its frontier and occupied positions within Syria, as well as in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

Additionally, Israel’s Home Front Command called up 20,000 reservists, primarily for search and rescue operations, with reinforcements also deployed to the Israeli Air Force, Navy and Intelligence Directorate.

Israel has since deployed “thousands” of those troops to take part in its invasion of southern Lebanon, which it resumed in response to rocket fire from Iranian ally Hezbollah on March 3.

Addressing the same security cabinet meeting as Zamir, Central Command chief Major General Avi Bluth told ministers that government policies in the occupied West Bank were also placing increasing pressure on the military’s already stretched manpower.

According to the report, Bluth told ministers that over the past year, the government has approved the construction of multiple illegal settlements in the Jordan Valley and elsewhere in the West Bank as part of a wider operation characterised by rights groups and more than 20 countries as Israel’s “effective annexation” of the occupied Palestinian territory.

Bluth added: “This is your policy, but it requires security and a full protection package, because the reality on the ground has completely changed – and that requires manpower.”

Are Israeli troops exhausted?

According to many of the army’s own members, particularly reservists, they are.

Speaking to the Ynet News outlet, which is typically supportive of Netanyahu and his ruling Likud party, one reservist told the newspaper in December of his decision not to report for duty.

“We have battles to fight at home,” he said, explaining his decision. “There are guys on the team who were fired from their jobs, others whose families are barely staying afloat, or who have been dragging out their studies for a very long time. This is a problem, a complexity that is hard to describe.”

Resentment of the apparent exemption offered to members of Israel’s ultra-religious Haredim community, whose refusal to enlist for service is often overlooked by politicians, is also growing, Israeli media reports.

Responding to Zamir’s comments to the security cabinet, Israel’s opposition leader, Yair Lapid, took to Twitter to address the government directly.

“The government must stop the cowardice, immediately halt all budgets to the Haredi draft dodgers,” he said of the extensive social benefits many in Israel’s ultra religious community rely upon. “Send the military police after the deserters, draft the Haredim without hesitation,” he said.

“The warning has been given. It’s on your heads. It’s in your hands. You cannot continue to abandon Israel’s security, in wartime, for petty politics.”

Former Made in Chelsea stars Jamie Laing and Sophie Habboo are starring in their own three-part series, which focuses on their romance and journey to becoming parents

Jamie Laing and wife Sophie Habboo are seen in a tense, emotional clash in a new trailer for their upcoming series Raising Chelsea.

The Made in Chelsea couple, who wed in April 2023, are the stars of a brand new series with Disney+ which is due to premiere next week. Ahead of the three-part series’ release, Disney+ has released a teaser trailer to give a glimpse of what fans can expect from the show.

The candid trailer traces their journey to parenthood – and opens with a clip of Jamie, 37, and Sophie, 31, in the back of a car as Jamie explains: “We’re currently heading to the Lindo Wing,” before Sophie adds: “We think it’s happening,” in reference to the birth of their first child.

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The teaser then turns back time as a montage looks at the couple meeting, tying the knot and their career highlights – including Jamie’s Strictly stint and Sophie recording their podcast. Before the pair announce: “And we’re having a baby!”

“I’ve always wanted to be a mum,” Sophie confesses as the montage moves on to focus on the couple’s journey to parenthood – from planning to conceive to midwife appointments. “Pregnancy is a rollercoaster,” Sophie confesses as she is seen having an ultrasound scan. Another clip shows Sophie in tears as Jamie tells her: “Nothing’s the matter, I promise you.”

Meanwhile, Jamie is seen in a confessional telling the camera: “The dynamic between Sophie and I; she’s the boss and I’m the intern.” Before it cuts to more clips and Jamie is heard telling the camera: “We’re bringing you on our journey. There’s c-sections, vaginal birth, births out your butthole…”

As the montage continues it cuts to a particularly tense clash between the couple as a wide-eyed Jamie is seen sharply saying: “I’m stressed, I’m tired.” The camera then cuts to an emotional Sophie, who is seen tearing up as she says: “But you just go behind my back. That’s so unacceptable.”

The camera then cuts to a confessional of Jamie’s mum Penny Baines who says: “This pregnancy, you’d think the Messiah was coming.” The clips then cut to show images of Sophie in hospital as she’s under observation as she smiles. Before Jamie gives an update on the birth, telling the camera: “Bad news is that the baby, his arm is through the cervix, she needs to have an emergency C-section.”

Emotional scenes follow as Jamie is seen reassuring Sophie while she undergoes the C-section before a newborn cry is heard and a doctor says: “Hear that sound?” As the elated couple are overwhelmed with emotion. The scenes then cut to a quiet moment of Sophie at home, feeding her baby son Ziggy, who was born in December.

The trailer ends with the date the series will be available to stream, which is April 2.

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