A group of 1,000 current and former Israeli Air Force reservists called on Thursday for the return of all captives held in Gaza, “even if it means ending the war”.
“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,” reads a letter published by the reservists in Israeli media.
The letter called for the “immediate return” of Israeli captives from Gaza, saying that the current war is going on for “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 mobilise for action”.
The letter’s signatures included former army chief Dan Halutz.
‘Fringe extremists’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the signatories of the letter as “a group of fringe extremists”.
The signatories “are a group of fringe extremists who are trying once again to break Israeli society from within”, he said in a statement.
The premier accused the signatories of “acting toward one goal—bringing down the government, saying, “They don’t represent the soldiers or the public.”
Defence Minister Israel Katz claimed that the letter undermines the “legitimacy” of the Israeli war on Gaza, urging the army and Air Force chiefs to handle the issue “in the most appropriate way”.
According to the Israeli daily Haaretz, the Air Force chief decided to dismiss active reservists who signed the letter, without mentioning their number.
The legal filing says Hamas has never extended its military operations outside the territory of historic Palestine, even though the governments of Britain and the US have provided “significant levels of support” to the Zionist State.
Renewed assault
Israel estimates that 59 hostages are still held in Gaza, with at least 22 of them alive.
They were expected to be set free in a second phase of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement, which would require Israel to fully withdraw its forces from Gaza and end the war permanently.
The Israeli army renewed a deadly assault on Gaza on March 18 and has since killed over 1,500 Palestinians, wounded 3,800 others, and shattered the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that was signed in January.
Netanyahu vowed last week to escalate attacks on Gaza as efforts are underway to implement US President Donald Trump’s plan to displace Palestinians from the enclave.
More than 50,800 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.
