More Israeli soldiers, graduates join call for end to Gaza war
More than 1,600 former Israeli army paratroopers and infantry soldiers have joined the band of military personnel demanding a deal to bring captives back from Gaza and end the war.
The group said they want the captives returned, “even at the cost of halting the fighting”, to save Israeli lives, according to Yedioth Ahronoth and other Israeli media.
More than 170 graduates from an elite tech leadership programme of the Military Intelligence Unit signed their names to a separate letter calling for an end to the war and the return of captives.
The calls are the latest among growing voices from within the military pressuring the government to end the war. Air Force reservists, doctors, ex-Mossad members, navy reservists and military intelligence members have been among those signing similar letters.
Israeli military doctors call for end to Gaza war to secure captive release
At least 200 Israeli military doctors have signed a petition demanding the return of captives from Gaza, even if it means ending the ongoing war, according to a Sunday report by Israel’s Channel 13.
“We, reserve doctors in the various units in the Israeli army, demand the immediate return of the captives and an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip,” the doctors wrote in the petition.
The petition reflects mounting frustration within Israeli military ranks, with the doctors emphasising that the war has strayed from its stated goals.
“After more than 550 days of fighting that have already taken a heavy toll on Israel, we feel with pain that the continued fighting in Gaza is intended primarily to serve political and personal interests without a security purpose,” they said.
Hamas says it will free captives if end to Gaza war guaranteed
A senior Hamas official says the Palestinian group is ready to release all Israeli captives in exchange for a “serious prisoner swap” and guarantees that Israel will end the war in Gaza.
Hamas is engaged in negotiations in Cairo with mediators from Egypt and Qatar – two nations working alongside the US to broker a ceasefire in the besieged territory devastated by 18 months of Israeli bombardment.
“We are ready 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,” Taher al-Nunu told AFP.
He also accused Israel of obstructing progress towards a ceasefire.
“The issue is not the number of captives,” al-Nunu said, “but rather that the occupation is reneging on its commitments, blocking the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and continuing the war”.
“Hamas has therefore stressed the need for guarantees to compel the occupation to uphold the agreement,” he added.
Israeli news website Ynet reported on Monday that a new proposal had been put to Hamas. Under the deal, the group would release 10 living captives in exchange for US guarantees that Israel would enter negotiations for a second phase of the ceasefire.
The first phase of the ceasefire, which began on January 19 and included multiple captive-prisoner exchanges, lasted two months before Israel resumed the offensive after violating the ceasefire many times. Israeli opposition politicians, former army officials and families of captives have accused Netanyahu of waging the war for his own political interest.
Several members of Netanyahu’s cabinet have called for voluntary migration of Palestinians from Gaza, which campaigners say is a euphemism for ethnic cleansing.
