Nearly 1,000 current and former Israel Air Force reservists signed a letter last Thursday suppporting an end to the war in Gaza, which they say “chiefly serves political and personal interests, rather than security interests at this point.”

The letter demands “the immediate return of all our hostages without delay, even at the cost of stopping the war immediately” and asserts that “the continuation of the war does not contribute to any of its stated goals and will lead to the death of abductees, IDF soldiers and innocent civilians, and to the attrition of reservists.”

Over the past week, more than a dozen other IDF units and security officials, representing thousands of serving and retired personnel, have issued similar letters. They include the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, the Medical Corps, Navy captains, infantry, paratroopers, artillery, a special missions unit, offensive cyber unit, Mossad, Shin Bet, National Security College graduates, and ex-senior police officials.

Letters of support for the reservists have been issued by civilian groups representing thousands of former diplomats, writers, academics and educators.

It is impossible for someone who works a shift in a cockpit to later come out and express a lack of confidence in the mission IDF statement

IDF clamps down on dissent

Most of those signing the letters are retired with between 10 and 20 % still in active service, according to varied reports.

In a controversial move, the IDF Chief of Staff and the Air Force Commander has dismissed reservists who signed the letter. “It is impossible for someone who works a shift in a cockpit to later come out and express a lack of confidence in the mission. This is an impossible anomaly,” the IDF said in a statement.

The move to clamp down on public protest appeared aimed at stemming increasingly vocal discontent among reservists and preventing a repeat of 2023, when waves of reservists announced they would refuse to serve in protest of Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul efforts.

Nearly all of those reservists ultimately responded to call-ups after Israel was attacked on October 7, but that wartime unity has begun to unravel as the war drags on.

Air force reservists’ letter (supplied)

Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister Katz condemned the letter and praised the decision to dismiss the signatories. Netanyahu labelled the letter the product of “an extreme fringe group that is once again trying to break Israeli society from within.” “Refusal is refusal—whether it is stated explicitly or disguised in euphemistic language,” he said.

Discontent reshapes IDF strategy

The protests by hundreds of reservists have prompted the army to reduce the presence of reservists in areas of active combat and limit the number of call-up notices, Yaniv Kubovich and Bar Peleg report in Haaretz.

Officers argue that the reservists’ lack of faith in the army’s current mission could undermine the implementation of war plans at a time when it is already facing challenges in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank. To reduce its dependence on reservists, many of whom are finding it difficult to report for duty for a variety of reasons unrelated to the protest movement, the Israel Defense Forces is sending more units from the conscript army to the Gaza Strip.

Sources in the army said that IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir’s decision to suspend air force reservists who signed the protest letter has had the opposite effect of what he had hoped, encouraging more reservists to sign similar letters.

Realising the need for damage control, Zamir is expected to meet again with representatives of the air force signatories, and he may also invite reservists from other units to express their concerns. Army sources claim the decision to dismiss the reservists was made under indirect pressure from the government.

Civilians groups back reservists

In support of the reservists, hundreds of Israeli writers, poets, and literary figures signed a petition on Sunday calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza, the return of the hostages, and a clear plan for the future of Gaza and its residents.

The signatories attributed the continuation of the war to the ulterior motives of Prime Minister Netanyahu and accused him of undermining “the most basic values of Israel as a civilised society, a democratic society, and also the values of the Declaration of Independence.” Among those who signed the statement—which was created and circulated over two days and shared widely on social media—are authors, poets, publishers, illustrators, literary editors, and scholars.

On Monday, a similar letter was signed by more than 6,000 academics and education officials, also calling for the return of the hostages—even if it requires an immediate end to the war.

Dozens of former Foreign Ministry employees, including former director-generals and ambassadors, also signed a letter of support. “The recent return to hostilities has not resulted in the release of a single hostage. We therefore demand immediate action to release the hostages, in one phase, even at the cost of ending the war,” they wrote.

Hundreds of reservists and retired Israeli Air Force officers signed a letter on Thursday calling on the Israeli government to agree to a deal with Hamas to return the hostages, even at the cost of ending the war in Gaza, UNN writes, citing New York Times.

Details

The letter, signed by about a thousand people, including a former chief of staff and other former senior military leaders, revealed a growing split in the Israeli military over the conduct of the war. The Air Force has been a key part of Israel’s efforts in Gaza, striking Hamas militant positions.

The appeal reflected heightened concern about the fate of the hostages after a shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hamas broke down in mid-March. The hostages have been held by militants in Gaza for more than 18 months.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office responded to the letter, saying that “statements that weaken the Israel Defense Forces and strengthen our enemy during the war” are “inexcusable.”

Trump again expressed the desire of the United States to establish control over Gaza

Israel’s reaction

The Israeli military said it had decided to dismiss the reservists who signed the letter, although the number of those dismissed was not expected to be large. It is noted that most of the people who signed up for this list were not military personnel. The timing of the dismissals is unknown.

The letter became a serious demonstration of criticism from the military regarding how the war is being waged. The military branch, in particular, has been a prominent voice of opposition to the government. Air Force pilots threatened to stop serving in the army during nationwide protests in 2023 against the government’s attempts to reduce the powers of institutions, including the Supreme Court, that restrain the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Addition

UN Secretary-General António Guterres issued a sharp warning about the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the Gaza Strip.

Guterres also criticized the actions of the IDF in Gaza, using the expression “fields of death”, which may be analogous to the sites in Cambodia where the Maoist Khmer Rouge carried out terror.

Hundreds of former operatives from Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency have criticised the return to war in Gaza amid growing frustration over the failure to bring home the remaining hostages held by Hamas.

A group of more than 250 former Mossad figures – including three ex-chiefs – gave their backing to a letter first signed by air force veterans and reservists that urged the Israeli government to prioritise bringing back the hostages over fighting Hamas in Gaza.

The Israeli government believes that 24 of the remaining 58 hostages who were taken captive in Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, are still alive.

The letter decried the amping-up of Israeli strikes and ground operations in Gaza since the collapse of the ceasefire in March as driven by the personal interests of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. It accused his government of putting the lives of soldiers and the hostages at risk for his own political gain.

Critics have alleged that Netanyahu’s decision to return to war in Gaza was driven by a need to appease the far-right parties in his coalition, who have threatened to bring down his government if he does not completely crush Hamas.

“The war mainly serves political and personal interests and not security interests,” said the letter.

The letter was first published and publicly signed last week by almost 1,000 reservists and retired officers from Israel’s air force, which has been at the forefront of the continued assault on Gaza.

It prompted a vehement response from Netanyahu, who said it was written by “an extreme fringe group that is once again trying to break Israeli society from within” and ordered the dismissal of all the active-duty reservists who had signed it.

Several similar statements were successively made in support, including by reservists from Israel’s elite Unit 8200, the biggest military intelligence unit, and hundreds of reservist doctors.

On Monday, another public letter signed by more than 1,500 former and current armoured corps soldiers and paratroopers with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), including two former IDF chiefs of staff, called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza.

“We are soldiers who have served our country all our lives. We have driven tanks, commanded troops, and paid a heavy price. It is precisely this experience that pushes us today to call for a ceasefire,” said the letter, authored by Col Rami Matan, a former IDF deputy commander, adding: “Why do we continue to sacrifice human lives for unattainable objectives?”

View image in fullscreen Drummers at the protest outside the west Jerusalem home of Israel’s minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer. Photograph: Saeed Qaq/NurPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

Israel and Hamas have been engaged in negotiations in Cairo, with the involvement of Qatar, Egypt and the US, who have been attempting to broker another ceasefire after the last one collapsed in March and Israel launched a wave of strikes.

Reports emerged on Monday that Israel had proposed a deal to Hamas that would see 10 hostages released. According to Tikva Forum, a rightwing group advocating for the hostages, Netanyahu told the father of the hostage Eitan Mor on Sunday that the government was working on a deal that would bring home 10 captives, but gave no further details on the conditions Israel had put forward.

A Hamas official who spoke to the Lebanese newspaper Al Mayadeen said Israel had proposed the return of 10 hostages in return for an initial 45-day ceasefire, when the Israeli government’s blockade on aid going into Gaza would be lifted and the IDF would withdraw from Gaza territory it had seized since March.

According to the official, Israel and Hamas would also commit to negotiations for a second stage, which is where the previous ceasefire commitments had stalled and ultimately fallen apart. This would include discussions of a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and the disarmament of Hamas.

Speaking to AFP on Monday, Taher al-Nunu, a senior Hamas official, accused Israel of obstructing progress towards a ceasefire. He said Hamas was willing “to release all Israeli captives in exchange for a serious prisoner swap deal, an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the entry of humanitarian aid”.

However, he made it clear that the disarmament of Hamas was not “up for negotiation”.

On Sunday night, hundreds of people, including dozens of family members of former and current hostages, staged a protest outside the home of Ron Dermer, the minister Netanyahu has put in charge of the hostage negotiations, leading to five arrests.

In recent days, hostage families have alleged that Dermer, who is one of Netanyahu’s closest advisers, has been delaying and obstructing negotiations in order to suit the government’s political agenda. The Netanyahu government has pushed back at the allegations, stating that it was doing everything to free the hostages.

Doron Zektser, the father of the hostage Edan Alexander, addressed Dermer in a statement: “Come out, update us on the situation. That’s your responsibility. If you can’t do the job, resign. He doesn’t speak with the families. They’re rushing to war when it’s clear that only a deal will bring the hostages back.”

Hundreds of retired air force officers protest Israel’s war in Gaza

TEL AVIV — Thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets every week to protest the ongoing war in Gaza and the government’s failure to bring home Israeli hostages. But on Tuesday, a different kind of demonstration took place: hundreds of retired Israeli Air Force pilots rallied against the waroutside the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. It was the first time the group, which calls itself “555,” had gathered in person to oppose the Israeli cabinet’s latest decision — to launch an operation to capture Gaza City and expand the nearly two-year war. The crowd, most over 60 years of age, stood under a banner reading “Don’t kill hostages and soldiers” — a message that echoed throughout the speeches. Many also stressed that their call to end the war wasn’t only about Israeli lives, but about the deaths of Palestinian civilians as well. Among them was Dan Halutz, a former chief of staff of the Israeli military and ex-Air Force commander. Challenging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that Hamas still poses a significant threat, Halutz told the crowd, “Who among the senior commanders in the IDF believes Hamas is a strategic threat we can’t defend against? I don’t believe there’s such a person.”

Turning to Israel’s current chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, Halutz added that “the war has run its course. Gaza is destroyed — structurally and humanly. There’s no army there. The last Hamas operatives are hiding.” Halutz also addressed Netanyahu directly, saying that if the prime minister had listened to President Joe Biden and ended the war a year and a half ago, “things would look different today.” The former commander accused the government of lacking the legitimacy to wage a war that “most of the public opposes.” He added that “the war in Gaza is eroding our morals, our values as human beings and as Jews. We will lose the right to send soldiers into battle if we don’t bring home those we already sent.” Hagai Katz, one of Israel’s most decorated fighter pilots and part of the 1981 air strike on Iraq’s nuclear reactor, was also there to oppose the campaign to capture Gaza City. He told NPR that he rejected Netanyahu’s promise that the move would eliminate Hamas once and for all. “We got promises from Netanyahu almost two years ago that only military pressure will eventually be effective. We heard it again and again,” said Katz. “That’s what we heard when he went into Rafah. That’s what he said when we moved to Khan Yunis. And now again, the same story about Gaza — but we believe we’ll get to the same outcome now, with more dead hostages and probably soldiers and Palestinians.” When asked what he would say to Israeli pilots now striking Gaza from the air, Katz acknowledged the moral dilemma they face.

“That’s a very tough question because in today’s war, unlike 50 years ago, you don’t see the target. You get an accurate position or a picture, and you trust the system to check that there are not too many innocent bystanders around. On the other hand, realistically, we know that a lot of uninvolved people are getting killed. So they have a real dilemma: stop attacking or quit reserves — and in that, in some cases, quit protecting Israel — or keep going and kill innocent bystanders. It’s a major issue on the table.” Would he fight in Gaza if he were still serving? “Probably I wouldn’t,” he answered. “And if that means I would have to leave the service, I would’ve done that.” The pilots’ protest adds to a recent petition by former heads of Israel’s security services calling for the war to end. Polls show a large majority of Israelis support ending the Gaza war in exchange for the hostages’ release. Yet the cabinet’s approval to launch a campaign to take control of Gaza City has drawn warnings from the current military chief, Israel media reported, who says such an operation could endanger the lives of the estimated 20 surviving hostages in Gaza. So far, the army has not issued call-up orders for reserve soldiers to bolster mission. But the public debate — both in Israel and abroad — over whether the operation is legitimate is only expected to intensify as universities said they were planning to go on strike this coming Sunday.

Hundreds of reservists and retired officers in Israel’s air force signed a letter on Thursday urging the Israeli government to agree to a deal with Hamas to return hostages, even at the price of stopping the war in Gaza.

The letter, which was signed by roughly a thousand people, including a former chief of staff and other former senior military leaders, laid bare a growing divide in the Israeli military over the handling of the war. The air force has been a key part of Israel’s effort in Gaza, carrying out strikes that have flattened much of the enclave and left thousands dead.

The appeal reflected heightened concern about the fate of the hostages after a shaky cease-fire between Israel and Hamas collapsed in mid-March. The hostages have been in the captivity of militants in Gaza for more than 18 months.

The letter immediately drew a rebuke from the Israeli prime minister’s office, which said that “statements that weaken the Israel Defense Forces and strengthen our enemy during wartime” were “unforgivable.”

The Israeli military said it had decided to discharge active-duty reservists who signed the letter, though the numbers that could be dismissed were not expected to be high. Most of the people who signed the list were not active duty, the military said. The timing of the dismissals was not clear.

The letter was an unusually large-scale show of criticism from members of the air force about the way the war has been run. The military branch, in particular, has been a notable voice of opposition to the government.

Air force pilots threatened to stop serving in the military during nationwide protests in 2023 against deeply divisive government efforts to reduce the power of institutions, including the Supreme Court, that had acted as a check on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

The campaign was suspended after the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023, but last month the government returned to the effort, passing legislation that gave politicians more control over choosing judges.

At key points throughout the war, top military officials have pressed for a cease-fire behind the scenes, hoping to bring home more hostages and give weary troops a break. In January, Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire, but the war resumed after Israel and Hamas failed to extend it.

The letter on Thursday claimed that continuing the war would lead to the deaths of the hostages and argued that it was driven by political interests, rather than security.

“Stop the fighting and return all of the hostages — now!” it said. “Every day that passes endangers their lives.”

Critics of Mr. Netanyahu have accused him of prioritizing his political survival over the return of the hostages. Mr. Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners have threatened to leave the coalition if he ends the war without defeating Hamas.

Maj. Gen. Nimrod Sheffer, a former senior air force officer, said he had signed the letter because he felt the hostages in Gaza were becoming increasingly vulnerable. The Israeli government has said it believes 24 of the remaining 59 hostages to be alive.

“It is immoral to abandon 59 hostages in Gaza,” General Sheffer said in a phone interview. “Someone needs to say loud and clear that they need to come home,” he added. “We can’t stay quiet anymore.”

For Palestinians in Gaza, Israel’s renewed bombing campaign has brought about immense devastation. More than 1,000 people in Gaza have been killed since the war restarted, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its casualty counts.

Israeli officials said that the airstrikes have targeted Hamas militants and their weapons infrastructure and that they were meant to ramp up pressure on the group to free more hostages. On Thursday, the Israeli military said that it had killed a Hamas commander who had participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Gaza’s Civil Defense, an emergency rescue service under the Hamas-run interior ministry, said on Wednesday that a strike in the Shajaiye neighborhood of Gaza City had killed at least 23 people, including eight children. Israel has accused Hamas of embedding in civilian areas. The bodies of 40 people killed by Israel arrived at hospitals across Gaza on Wednesday, according to the Health Ministry.

The Israeli military’s latest offensive in Gaza has included widespread evacuation orders, encompassing roughly half of the territory, according to a New York Times analysis of Israeli military maps. Satellite imagery also shows that the Israeli military was taking over Rafah, with forces closing in on the southernmost city in Gaza from two directions.

Last week, Mr. Netanyahu said Israel would establish a new corridor in Gaza, which he hinted would cut off territory in the southern city of Rafah from the rest of the strip. The Morag Corridor appeared to take its name from a former Israeli settlement in southern Gaza, from which Israel withdrew in 2005.

Samuel Granados and Lauren Leatherby contributed reporting.