A petition by some 1,000 air force personnel calling for an end to attacks on Gaza has been supported in Israel by academics and military doctors.
Israeli soldiers sign new petition demanding prisoner swap, end of war in Gaza
According to Israeli state television KAN, some 1,900 professors of higher education have signed a petition in support of the letter published earlier by the air force. The text of the petition, like the military’s letter, states that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government puts political and personal interests above security.
The petition contains the same suggestions as a letter signed by reservists from Israel’s military intelligence unit 8200, who signed another letter calling for an end to attacks on Gaza. “Every extra minute of hesitation is a disgrace,” the letter said.
About 100 military doctors from the Israeli army reserve signed another letter calling for an end to the attacks on Gaza.
According to Israeli Army Radio, the doctors stressed that continuing the attacks and leaving Israeli prisoners in Gaza contradicts basic medical values.
The letter has not yet been published, but signatures have already been collected and the initiative is in the organising stage. More doctors will reportedly sign the letter in the coming days.
Former fighter pilot Arnon Sharabi, one of the signatories of the Air Force letter, said that the dismissal of the signatories by the Israeli Air Force General Staff will weaken the army.
Sharabi said it is not right for Chief of General Staff Eyal Zamir to retaliate against soldiers for expressing their opinions, KAN reported.
“The result of the dismissals will be a weakening of the air force,” he said, adding that the military intends to express its opinion.
Letter calling for an end to attacks on Gaza
Some 1,000 pilots and reservists from the Israeli Air Force, including some former soldiers, published a letter calling for an end to attacks on Gaza.
Israeli Air Force Chief of General Staff Eyal Zamir endorsed Air Force Commander Tomer Bar’s decision to dismiss the soldiers who signed the letter demanding an end to hostilities in Gaza.
Following the air force pilots and reservists, more than 150 retired Israeli navy officers and reservists from armoured units released a letter calling for an end to attacks on Gaza in exchange for prisoners. Hundreds of reservists from Israel’s military intelligence unit 8200 also signed a letter demanding an end to attacks on the Palestinian exclave.
Rallies in Morocco, Yemen, Tunisia, Syria protest against Israel
Thousands of people turned out for rallies and protests on Friday in Morocco, Yemen, Tunisia and Syria to demand an end to Israel’s genocidal war against the Gaza Strip.
The Moroccan Commission for the Defence of the Nation, a non-governmental group, said pro-Palestine rallies took place across the kingdom, including in the western cities of Casablanca and Settat, the southwestern city of Agadir, the eastern cities of Berkan and Oujda, and the northern cities of Tangier, Tetouan and Fez.
Anadolu reporter said thousands gathered in Sanaa’s Al-Sabin Square at the invitation of the Houthi group, which controls the capital. In Tunisia, hundreds of people joined a rally in Tunis.
The local group Joint Action Coordination for Palestine, which called for the rally, demanded a law to criminalise normalisation of relations with Israel, while protesters waved Palestinian flags and raised banners in support of Palestine.
The Syrian state news agency SANA also reported rallies in Aleppo in northern Syria, Arbin and Damascus in the southwest. Protesters raised Palestinian and Syrian flags and banners and called for a worldwide boycott of Israel, SANA added.
The Israeli army resumed its assault on Gaza on March 18, breaking a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement reached on January 19.
More than 50,900 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed in Gaza since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. The military campaign has left the enclave in ruins and rendered it virtually uninhabitable.
