Hundreds of retired Israeli security officials including former heads of intelligence agencies have urged US President Donald Trump to pressure their own government to end the war in Gaza.
“It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel,” the former officials wrote in an open letter shared with the media.
“At first this war was a just war, a defensive war, but when we achieved all military objectives, this war ceased to be a just war,” said Ami Ayalon, former director of the Shin Bet security service.
The war, nearing its 23rd month, “is leading the State of Israel to lose its security and identity,” Mr Ayalon warned in a video released to accompany the letter.
Signed by 550 people, including former chiefs of Shin Bet and the Mossad spy agency, the letter called on Mr Trump to “steer” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu towards a ceasefire.
Israel launched its military operation in Gaza in response to the deadly 7 October 2023 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas.
In recent weeks Israel has come under increasing international pressure to agree a ceasefire that could see Israeli hostages released from Gaza and UN agencies distribute humanitarian aid.
But some in Israel, including ministers in Mr Netanyahu’s coalition government, are instead pushing for Israeli forces to push on and for Gaza to be occupied in whole or in part.
The letter was signed by three former Mossad heads: Tamir Pardo, Efraim Halevy and Danny Yatom.
Others signatories include five former heads of Shin Bet – Mr Ayalon as well as Nadav Argaman, Yoram Cohen, Yaakov Peri and Carmi Gilon – and three former military chiefs of staff, including former prime minister Ehud Barak, former defence minister Moshe Yaalon and Dan Halutz.
The letter argued that the Israeli military “has long accomplished the two objectives that could be achieved by force: dismantling Hamas’s military formations and governance.”
“The third, and most important, can only be achieved through a deal: bringing all the hostages home,” it added.
“Chasing remaining senior Hamas operatives can be done later,” the letter said.
In the letter, the former officials tell Mr Trump that he has credibility with the majority of Israelis and can put pressure on Mr Netanyahu to end the war and return the hostages.
After a ceasefire, the signatories argue, Mr Trump could force a regional coalition to support a reformed Palestinian Authority to take charge of Gaza as an alternative to Hamas rule.
Separately, Israel’s ambassador to the UN has said that the UN Security Council will hold an emergency session tomorrow on the hostages in Gaza.
Danny Danon posted the announcement on social media amid anger over videos showing two of the hostages held by Palestinian militant group Hamas emaciated.
Mr Danon said that the Council “will convene this coming Tuesday for a special emergency session on the dire situation of the hostages in Gaza”.
The videos make references to the humanitarian conditions in Gaza, where UN-mandated experts have warned a “famine is unfolding.”
Israel has heavily restricted the entry of aid into Gaza, while UN agencies, humanitarian groups and analysts say that much of what Israel does allow in is looted or diverted in chaotic circumstances.
Many desperate Palestinians are left to risk their lives seeking what aid is distributed through controlled channels.
Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross to get food to the hostages.
In response, Hamas’s armed wing said that it would allow the agency access to the hostages but only if “humanitarian corridors” for food and aid were opened “across all areas of the Gaza Strip”.
The Al-Qassam Brigades said it did “not intentionally starve” the hostages, but they would not receive any special food privileges “amid the crime of starvation and siege” in Gaza.
Over recent days, Hamas and its ally Islamic Jihad have released three videos showing two hostages seized during the 2023 attack on Israel.
The images of Rom Braslavski and Evyatar David, both of whom appeared weak and malnourished, have fuelled renewed calls in Israel for a truce and hostage release deal.
