New Delhi: Israeli soldiers have signed a letter calling for an end to the war in Gaza and speeding up of negotiations for the return of native captives from the war-torn territory, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday.
Al Jazeera cited Israeli Army Radio as stating that a group of 150 Golani Brigade members have joined the call to end the war, adding their names to thousands of others in a sign of dissent that has alarmed the Israeli government.
Several petitions have been circulating within the Israeli military since last week. The first was signed by 1,000 Israeli Air Force reserves and was followed by others circulated among veterans and officers serving within the armoured corps, navy and other military units. A separate petition was signed by 200 Israeli military doctors on Sunday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to dismiss active-duty soldiers who sign petitions, as per Al Jazeera.
Hamas is reviewing a new ceasefire proposal from Israel and will respond “as soon as possible” as the movement’s spokesperson Sami Abu Zuhri told Al Jazeera that the “request to disarm Hamas is not acceptable to even hear”.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said that at least 50,983 Palestinians are confirmed dead and 1,16,274 wounded in the Israel-Gaza conflict. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023. More than 200 were taken captive, as per Al Jazeera.
The UN humanitarian agency, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), also said that “violence is surging” in the occupied West Bank, according to its latest monthly update.
“Aid groups are stepping in, but we must not let the West Bank become another Gaza,” OCHA’s office in Palestine said in a post on X.
According to OCHA’s data, 44,285 people were displaced in January and February 2025 in the occupied West Bank. Of those, the vast majority, 38,710 were displaced by fighting between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters in the north of the West Bank. (ANI)
