EPAOf the approximately 600 retired Israeli security officials, including former intelligence agencies, 600 retired Israeli security officials have written to U.S. President Donald Trump, demanding that Israel end the war in Gaza immediately.
“Our professional judgment is that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel,” the official said.
They wrote: “Your credibility for the vast majority of Israelis enhances your ability to enter the Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu and his government in the right direction: end the war, return to hostages, and stop suffering.”
They are pushing for reports of expanding military operations in Gaza as reports have stagnated with the indirect ceasefire dialogue with Hamas.
On October 7, 2023, after Hamas attacked Israel in southern Israel, Israel launched a devastating war in Gaza, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostages to the Gaza people.
Hamas-run health ministry said more than 60,000 people were killed due to Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
On Monday, the ministry reported at least 94 people were killed in Gaza in the past few days, including dozens of people who died in Israel’s strike.
It added that at least 24 people were killed while seeking assistance. These reports have been in recent months almost every day, but it is difficult to verify as international journalists, including the BBC, are blocked by Israel, and Israel has been blocked from independent entry into Gaza.
The territory has also suffered massive deprivation due to Israel’s restrictions on Gaza. The ministry said that since the beginning of the war, 180 people, including 93 children, have died of malnutrition.
United Nations-backed agencies say “the worst situation in Gaza is happening right now.”
ReutersThe latest intervention by former Israeli officials follows two videos of thinning Israeli hostages released by Hamas and Islamic Jihadists.
The videos have been widely condemned by Israeli and Western leaders.
After the video was released, Netanyahu spoke with two hostage families and told them that the efforts of all hostages “will continue, continue, continue.”
But an Israeli official – widely cited by local media – said Netanyahu was working to free the hostages through “Hamas’ military failure.”
The possibility of a new escalation in Gaza could further anger Israeli allies, which are pushing for an immediate ceasefire as reports of Palestinians dying from hunger or malnutrition have caused shocks around the world.
The main groups supporting the hostage family condemned the idea of a new military offensive: “Netanyahu is the doom to lead Israel and the hostages.”
This view was made explicit in a letter to Trump by former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, who is the former chief of Shin Bet – Israel’s Domestic Secret Service – former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and former Defense Secretary Moshe Yaalon.
“At first, this war was a fair war, a defensive war, but when we achieve all our military goals, this war is no longer a fair war,” Ayalon said.
The former supreme leader is in charge of the commander of the Israel Security (CIS) group, which in the past urged the government to focus on ensuring the return of hostages.
“Israel’s largest former IDF general and Mossad, Shin Bet, police and foreign ministry equivalent CIS stops the Gaza war! We urge you to end the Gaza war. You also do this in Gaza.” They wrote to the U.S. President.
Israel faces growing international isolation as widespread destruction in Gaza and Palestinian suffering sparked anger.
Polls around the world show that the negative impact of public opinion on Israel has put pressure on Western leaders to take action.
However, it is unclear what pressure Trump will choose to put on the Israeli prime minister, if any.
Although he publicly admitted last week that the U.S. president has been supporting his allies after Netanyahu insisted that there was no such thing, despite publicly admitting last week that there was “real hunger” in Gaza.
