A team of Israeli army intelligence officers openly declined to engage in continued combat operations against Gaza, saying that the government’s orders were “clearly illegal” and politically motivated.
In a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff, 41 anonymous officers and reservists stated that they would refuse to serve anymore what they defined as an “unnecessary, eternal war.” The letter, which was said to be organized by the anti-war movement Soldiers for the Hostages and posted on the internet on Tuesday evening, branded the government for favoring political survival ahead of national interest and hostage rescue missions.
The officials, who were thought to be from the elite Unit 8200, protested against the government for leaving Israeli hostages behind in Gaza and purportedly killing numerous people through indiscriminate bombardments. “When a government acts with ulterior motives, hurts civilians, and leads to the killing of innocents, its orders are obviously illegal and should not be obeyed,” the letter reads.
They also blamed Netanyahu’s government for sabotaging a ceasefire agreement in March, condemning the remaining hostages to death. Of the remaining 56 hostages thought to still be in Gaza, about 20 are assumed to still be alive.
The letter is an unprecedented increase in military protest, coming hot on the heels of a like but not nearly as vocal protest by 250 reservists from Unit 8200 last April. It also shows mounting discontent among IDF members, some of whom now refuse to serve at all, either vocally or quietly.
One officer said to The Guardian, “All the killing in Gaza is unnecessary. Soldiers are sent for nothing. Hostages suffer and die.”
More than 55,000 have died and approximately 125,000 have been wounded in the war, according to Gaza’s health officials, though the true civilian casualty total is unknown.
The declaration has fueled demands among Israelis to bring the war to a close and rethink its political and military course.
