Israel’s army said Friday that he will fire the reservists of the Air Force that signed an open letter that condemns the war in Gaza for serving mainly political interests by not bringing home to the hostages.
In a statement to Associated Press, an army officer said there was no space for any individual, including reserved active duty, “exploiting his military status while participating simultaneously in the fighting,” calling the letter a violation of confidence between commanders and subordinates.
The army said he had decided that any active reservist who signed the letter will not be able to continue serving. He did not specify how many people included or if the shots had begun.
Almost 1,000 reserves and retirees of the Israeli Air Force signed the letter, published in the Israeli media on Thursday, demanding the immediate return of the hostages, even at the cost of ending the fighting.
The letter occurs when Israel has increased its offensive in Gaza, trying to increase the pressure on Hamas to return the 59 hostages that are still retained. More than half is presumed dead. Israel has imposed a blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortage as supplies decrease. He has promised to seize large parts of the Palestinian territory and establish a new security corridor through it.
While those who signed the letter did not reject military service, they are the last in a growing number of Israeli soldiers who speak against prolonged conflict, some say they saw or did things that crossed ethical lines.
“It is completely illogical and irresponsible in the name of Israeli political leaders … risking the lives of hostages, risking the life of more soldiers and risking lives of many, many more innocent Palestinians, while I had a very clear alternative,” Guy Porlan, a retired Air Israeli force pilot who headed the letter told the AP.
He said he is not aware of anyone who signed the letter that was fired, and since he was published, he has won more firms dozens.
The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, minimized the letter on Friday, saying that it was written by a “little handful of weeds, operated by foreigners financed by foreigners (non -governmental organizations) whose sole objective is to overthrow the government of the right.” He said anyone who foster the refusal will be dismissed immediately.
Soldiers are required to remain away from politics, and rarely speak against the army. After Hamas broke into Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel quickly joined behind the war launched against the militant group. The divisions here have grown as the war progresses, but most criticisms have focused on the growing number of murdered soldiers and the failure to bring hostages from home, not actions in Gaza.
Liberated hostages and their families are doing what they can to maintain attention in their difficult situation and urge the government to get everyone.
Agam Berger, a military observer who was taken as hostage and released in January, plans to join an upcoming march of the life ceremony at the sites of ancient Nazis concentration camps in Poland. Berger, who plays a 130 -year -old violin who survived the Holocaust, will be accompanied by Daniel Weiss, a resident of Kibbutz Be’eri, whose parents were killed by Hamas.
But the war on for that attack shows no signs of deceleration.
Since Israel finished a high eight -week fire last month, he said he will push Gaza further until Hamas releases the hostages. According to the United Nations, more than 1,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the high fire collapsed.
The Israeli army issued on Friday an urgent warning to residents in several neighborhoods in northern Gaza, asking them to evacuate immediately. According to the Ministry of Health of Gaza, at least 26 people and more than 100 wounds in the last 24 hours, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
The Palestinians aligned in a charity cuisine on Friday in Center of Gaza, said that the shortage of food, fuel and other essential elements are getting worse.
“There is no flour, gas or wood. Everything is expensive and there is no money,” said Ref Oweis, a woman displaced from al-mugchraqa in South Gaza, waiting in the tail a portion of rice, the only food available.
“I completely trust the kitchens of charity. If those charity kitchens close, my children and I will die,” said another displaced woman, Nema Faragallah.
Also this week, the Brazilian embassy in the West Bank said he had requested the immediate release of the body of a 17 -year -old Palestinian prisoner who died in Israeli custody.
A representative of the Brazilian office in Ramallah, told the AP that he was helping the family to accelerate the process to take Walid Ahmad’s body home. Ahmad had a Brazilian passport.
According to an Israeli doctor who observed the autopsy, hunger was probably the main cause of his death.
Ahmad had been held for six months without being accused. He was extremely malnourished and also showed signs of inflammation of the colon and scabies, said a report written by Dr. Daniel Solomon, who saw the autopsy performed by Israeli experts at the request of the child’s family.
The Israel Penitentiary Service said that it operates in accordance with the law and that all prisoners receive basic rights.
