Palestinians return with bags and boxes from a food distribution point run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) group, near the Netsarim corridor in the central Gaza Strip. AFP
The group comprises former generals from the army and equivalents from Mossad, Shin Bet, the police, and the diplomatic corps.
In an open letter shared later with the media on Monday, the group, known as Commanders for Israel's Security (CIS), asserted their professional judgment that Hamas no longer represents a strategic threat to Israel. Thereby, they urged Trump to "steer" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu towards ending the war in Gaza.
“Stop the Gaza War! ... We urge you to end the Gaza war. You did it in Lebanon. Time to do it in Gaza as well," the CIS directly appealed to Trump.
The group contends that Israel has already achieved its core military objectives. "The army has long accomplished the two objectives that could be achieved by force: dismantling Hamas’ military formations and governance," it stated.
They emphasized that the "third, and most important, can only be achieved through a deal: bringing all hostages home.”
This is not the first time the CIS has pressed for a shift in the government's policy. However, their latest intervention underscores the escalating international pressure on Israel regarding its acts in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there, particularly given Trump's recent criticisms of Israel for causing starvation in Gaza, as reported by The Jerusalem Post.
“It is our professional judgment that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel. Chasing remaining senior Hamas operatives can be done later. Our hostages can’t wait,” the group said.
The former officials believe Trump's unique standing with the Israeli populace gives him significant leverage.
“Your credibility with the vast majority of Israelis augments your ability to steer Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government in the right direction: End the war, return the hostages, stop the suffering, and forge a regional-international coalition that helps the Palestinian Authority (once reformed) to offer Gazans and all Palestinians an alternative to Hamas,” the letter read.
The CIS proposed that Israel must announce its acceptance of an end to the war in exchange for the return of all remaining captives, a consistent offer by Hamas since the war started.
Additionally, they urged Israel to accept the proposed international framework of Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, together with a reformed Palestinian Authority (PA), taking over the running of post-war Gaza.
The CIS expressed hope that Trump will press Netanyahu to make such an offer despite the Israeli premier's repeated rejection of this position, trying to keep his hard-right coalition partners from toppling his government if he ends the war.
According to JPOST, the CIS had successfully influenced the Biden administration's policy in the past, and previously, the Netanyahu government’s policies.
"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.
On 18 March, the Netanyahu government unilaterally broke a ceasefire agreement brokered in January by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States, resuming its genocidal war on Gaza. The renewed assault has killed thousands and left scores of Palestinian civilians wounded.
Israel violated the truce after insisting on extending the first phase of the agreement and refusing to enter the second phase, which included more substantive steps toward ending the war.
In recent weeks, Israel has faced mounting international pressure over its genocidal campaign in Gaza and a continued blockade that has plunged the strip into mass starvation.
Since the war began in October 2023, the Israeli army has killed more than 60,400 Palestinians. At least 1,400 of them were targeted near US- and Israeli-backed aid distribution centres.
Israel's engineered famine has killed more than 170 Palestinians in Gaza, including 93 children, according to health authorities.
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