Hundreds Of Former Israeli Security Officials Urge Trump To End Gaza War

Hundreds of retired Israeli security officials on Monday urged United States president Donald Trump to pressure the Israeli government to end the war in Gaza. The officials asserted that Hamas no longer posed a strategic threat and called for the US to intervene. 

"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 on Monday, AFP reported. 

"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", Ayalon warned in a video released to accompany the letter. The letter was signed by three former Mossad heads including Tamir Pardo, Efraim Halevy and Danny Yatom.

Others signatories include five former heads of Shin Bet, 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 Halut, according to AFP.

The letter said that the Israeli military "has long accomplished the two objectives that could be achieved by force: dismantling Hamas's military formations and governance." It further claimed that the final and most important objective – bringing the hostages back home, can only be achieved by establishing a ceasefire.  

The letter signed by around 600 retired Israeli officials called for Trump to steer Israel towards a ceasefire. However, several in Netanyahu’s coalition government are pushing for Israel to capture all of Gaza.

Israel has come under increasing pressure in recent times to agree to a ceasefire with reports of a famine in Gaza making rounds.