More than 600 former Israeli security chiefs urge Trump to end Gaza war

Al Jazeera:

More than 600 former Israeli security chiefs have urged United States President Donald Trump to bring an end to Israel’s war on Gaza as deaths of dozens of Palestinians from Israeli-induced starvation have caused global outrage.

The appeal was made in a letter sent to Trump on Sunday. Its signatories include former Mossad chief Tamir Pardo, former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon and former deputy Israeli army chief Matan Vilnai. They called for pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the nearly two-year conflict, which has devastated Gaza.

The letter was sent as a furore grows over videos released by Palestinian groups showing two emaciated Israeli captives held in Gaza, where more than two million Palestinians are struggling to survive the starvation crisis.

“Everything that could be achieved by force has been achieved. The hostages cannot wait any longer,” the Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS) group said in a post on X, where it shared the letter.

The letter said the Israeli army has achieved two of its three objectives by force, “dismantling Hamas’ military formations and governance”, but the third, bringing back all Israeli captives, can “only be achieved through a deal”.

“Stop the Gaza War! On behalf of CIS, Israel’s largest group of former [military] generals and Mossad, Shin Bet, Police, and Diplomatic Corps equivalents, we urge you to end the Gaza war,” the letter read.

“You did it in Lebanon. Time to do it in Gaza as well,” it added.