Hundreds of former operatives from Israel’s intelligence agency have criticised the return to war in Gaza amid growing frustration over the failure to bring home the remaining hostages held by Hamas.
A group of over 250 former figures from the Mossad – including three ex-chiefs – gave their backing to a letter first signed by air force veterans and reservists that urged the Israeli government to prioritise bringing back the hostages over fighting the Palestinian militant group in Gaza.
The Israeli government believes that 24 of the remaining 59 hostages, who were taken captive in Hamas’s attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, are still alive.
The letter decried the amping-up of Israeli strikes and ground operations in Gaza since the collapse of the ceasefire in March as driven by the personal interests of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. It accused his government of putting the lives of soldiers and the hostages – who have been held for over 18 months – at risk for his own political gain.
Critics have alleged that Netanyahu’s decision to return to war in Gaza was driven by a need to appease the far-right parties in his coalition, who have threatened to bring down his government if he does not completely crush Hamas.
“The war mainly serves political and personal interests and not security interests,” said the letter.
The letter was first published and publicly signed last week by almost 1,000 reservists and retired officers in Israel’s air force, which has been at the forefront of the continued assault on Gaza.
It had prompted a vehement response from Netanyahu, who said it was written by “an extreme fringe group that is once again trying to break Israeli society from within” and ordered the dismissal of all the active-duty reservists who had signed the letter.
Several similar statements were successively made in support, including by reservists from Israel’s elite Unit 8200, the biggest military intelligence unit, and from hundreds of reservist doctors.
Israel and Hamas have been engaged in negotiations in Cairo, with involvement by Qatar, Egypt and the US, who have been attempting to broker another ceasefire after the last one collapsed in March and Israel launched a wave of strikes.
Reports emerged on Monday that Israel had proposed a deal to Hamas that would see 10 hostages released. According to Tikva Forum, a rightwing group advocating for the hostages, Netanyahu told the father of the hostage Eitan Mor on Sunday that the government was working on a deal that would bring home 10 captives, but gave no further details on the conditions Israel had put forward.
A Hamas official who spoke to the Lebanese newspaper Al Mayadeen said Israel had proposed the return of 10 hostages in return for an initial 45-day ceasefire, when the Israeli government’s blockade on aid going into Gaza would be lifted and the IDF would withdraw from Gaza territory it had seized since March.
According to the official, Israel and Hamas would also commit to negotiations for a second stage, which is where the previous ceasefire commitments had stalled and ultimately fallen apart. This would include discussions of a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, and the disarmament of Hamas.
Speaking to AFP on Monday, Taher al-Nunu, a senior Hamas official, accused Israel of obstructing progress towards a ceasefire. He said Hamas was willing “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”.
However, he made it clear that the disarmament of Hamas was not “up for negotiation”.
On Sunday night, hundreds of people, including dozens of family members of former and current hostages, staged a protest outside the home of Ron Dermer, the minister Netanyahu has put in charge of the hostage negotiations, leading to five arrests.
In recent days, hostage families have alleged that Dermer, who is one of Netanyahu’s closest advisers, has been delaying and obstructing negotiations in order to suit the government’s political agenda. The Netanyahu government has pushed back at the allegations, stating that it was doing everything to free the hostages.
Doron Zektser, the adoptive father of the hostage Edan Alexander, addressed Dermer in a statement: “Come out, update us on the situation. That’s your responsibility. If you can’t do the job, resign. He doesn’t speak with the families. They’re rushing to war when it’s clear that only a deal will bring the hostages back.”
