Hundreds of ex-Israeli officials beg Trump to help end Gaza war
About 600 former Israeli security officials, including previous heads of the Mossad and the military, have urged Donald Trump to pressure Israel to end the war in Gaza as the regime’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, considers expanding the conflict.
In an open letter, the former officials said an end to the war was the only way to save hostages still held by Hamas.
“Your credibility with the vast majority of Israelis augments your ability to steer prime minister Netanyahu and his government in the right direction: end the war, return the hostages, stop the suffering,” they wrote.
The letter comes as pressure mounts for the Israeli cabinet to end the war, even as Netanyahu considers intensifying the offensive. Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Israel over the weekend after two videos were released of emaciated hostages held in Gaza.
One video in particular, which depicted a skeletal Evyatar David digging what he said could be his own grave, prompted a wave of outrage across Israel.
On Sunday night, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum headquarters released a statement that accused Netanyahu of “leading Israel and the kidnapped to doom”.
The prime minister is considering expanding the war in Gaza despite the growing calls for a cease-fire. According to Israeli media, Netanyahu wants to try “pushing for the release of the hostages through decisive military victory”.
The prime minister is expected to hold a meeting on Tuesday to decide on the best path forward in Gaza, with expanded military operations on the table. Intensifying military activity in the Palestinian territory would placate the far-right ministers in Netanyahu’s governing coalition, who have consistently advocated against a cease-fire.
An expansion of the war would be contrary to what Trump’s Middle East envoy told the families of hostages over the weekend was the US position. Steve Witkoff said Washington was backing a comprehensive end to the Gaza war that would bring hostages home and assured the families that would not mean more fighting.
Any expansion of the conflict would risk worsening the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza. A UN-affiliated humanitarian body said the territory was experiencing famine, as the approximate 2.1 million people who live there, experience mass starvation.
Despite the announcement of expanded aid measures in Gaza, humanitarian groups say Israel is still not letting nearly enough aid into the territory.
At least 40 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire and airstrikes in Gaza on Monday, in addition to five people who died of starvation, health authorities said. At least 10 of those who were killed were shot as they queued for aid outside distribution centers run by the private US Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
Almost 61,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began. Israel launched the war in response to an attack on Israel on October 7 2023 in which Hamas fighters killed about 1,200 people and took 251 hostages.
The former Israeli security officials also warned against an expansion of the war, arguing that Israel had long since achieved its military objectives in Gaza.