1,000 Israeli Air Force reservists demand end to Gaza war to free captives
Letter published by Air Force reservists says Gaza war only serves ‘political and personal interests’
JERUSALEM / ANKARA
A group of 1,000 current and former Israeli Air Force reservists called Thursday for the return of all captives held in the Gaza Strip, “even if it means ending the war” against the Palestinian group Hamas.
“The continuation of the war doesn’t advance any of the declared goals of the war and will bring about the deaths of the hostages, IDF (army) soldiers and innocent civilians,” said a letter published by the reservists in Israeli media.
The letter called for the “immediate return” of Israeli captives from Gaza, saying the war now only serves “political and personal interests.”
“Only an agreement can return hostages safely, while military pressure mainly leads to the killing of hostages and the endangerment of our soldiers,” the reservists said, calling on Israelis “to mobilize for action.”
Former army chief Dan Halutz was among those who signed the letter.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the signatories.
They “are a group of fringe extremists who are trying once again to break Israeli society from within,” he said in a statement.
He accused them of “acting toward one goal – bringing down the government. They don’t represent the soldiers or the public.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz said the letter undermines the “legitimacy” of the war on Gaza, urging the army and air force chiefs to handle the issue "in the most appropriate way."
According to Israel’s Haaretz daily, the head of the air force decided to dismiss active reservists who signed the letter, without mentioning their number.
Meanwhile, nearly 150 officers from the Israeli Navy signed a petition calling on Netanyahu’s government to stop the war in Gaza and secure the release of the hostages held there, according to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
Channel 12 reported that hundreds of fighters who served in the past and are still serving in the reserves in the Armored Corps and the Navy joined the Air Force protest and sent two additional letters calling for an end to the war in Gaza and the return of the hostages.
Later, the broadcaster reported that dozens of military reserve doctors had sent a petition to the government demanding an end to the war in Gaza—part of a growing wave of dissent within the Israeli army.
The petition, addressed to Katz and Army Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir, said: “We, doctors and medical professionals in the reserves serving in various units of the Israeli army, demand the immediate return of the hostages and a halt to the fighting in the Gaza Strip,” according to the channel.
“On Oct. 7, (2023), we answered the call to defend Israel, but after more than 550 days of fighting—which has come at a high cost to the country—we painfully feel that the continuation of the war now serves political and personal interests rather than clear security objectives,” they added.
Israel estimates that 59 hostages are still being held in Gaza, with at least 22 of them alive. They were expected to be set free in a second phase of a Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement, which would require Israel to fully withdraw its forces from Gaza and end the war permanently.
But Israel renewed the assault and broke the January ceasefire agreement. It has killed more than 50,800 Palestinians in Gaza since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and reduced the enclave to a rubble.Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
