JERUSALEM (AP) — Former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs called for an end to the war in Gaza as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinted at further military action and Israel's government plotted its next move in the devastated territory.
On the ground in Gaza, health officials reported new deaths Tuesday of Palestinians seeking food at distribution points. The Israeli defense body coordinating aid to Gaza announced a new deal with local merchants to improve aid deliveries as desperation mounts.
The former security officials speaking out included those who led Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service, Mossad spy agency and the Israeli military. In a roughly three-minute video posted to social media this week, they demanded an end to the war and said the far-right members of the government are holding the country “hostage” in prolonging the conflict.
“This is leading the state of Israel to the loss of its security and its identity,” Ami Ayalon, former head of Shin Bet, said in the footage.
Yoram Cohen, former head of Shin Bet, called Netanyahu's objectives “a fantasy.”
“If anyone imagines that we can reach every terrorist and every pit and every weapon and in parallel bring our hostages home — I think it is impossible,” he said.
Next stage of the war
Netanyahu, meanwhile, announced Monday that he would convene his Security Cabinet in the coming days to direct the army on the next stage of the war, hinting that even tougher military action was an option in Gaza.
Netanyahu said he remained committed to achieving his war objectives, including defeating Hamas, releasing all hostages and ensuring Gaza never again threatens Israel.
Israeli media said the meeting was expected Tuesday, with disagreements between Netanyahu and the army chief, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, on how to proceed.
The reports, citing anonymous officials in Netanyahu’s office, said the prime minister was pushing the army, which already controls about three quarters of Gaza, to conquer the entire territory, a step that could endanger the hostages, deepen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and further isolate Israel internationally.
Various reports have said Zamir opposes this step and could step down or be pushed out if it is approved.
Aid through local merchants
Several hundred Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since May while heading toward food distribution sites, airdropped parcels and aid convoys in the Gaza Strip, according to witnesses, local health officials and the United Nations human rights office.
The Israeli military says it only has fired warning shots and disputes the toll.
The Israeli defense body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, called COGAT, wrote on social platform X that there will be a “gradual and controlled renewal of the entry of goods through the private sector in Gaza.”
“This aims to increase the volume of aid entering the Gaza Strip, while reducing reliance on aid collection by the U.N. and international organizations,” it said Tuesday.
A limited number of local merchants were approved for the plan and will sell basic food products, baby food, fruits and vegetables and hygiene supplies through bank transfers, COGAT said.
‘Stained with humiliation and blood’
Thousands of Palestinians crowded against aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip through the southern Morag corridor Monday attempting to get whatever food they could during a protracted food shortage across the enclave.
Mohammed Qassas from Khan Younis in southern Gaza said his children are so hungry that he is forced to storm aid trucks.
“I have young children, how am I supposed to feed them? No one has mercy. This resembles the end of the world,” he said. “If we fight, we get the food. If we don’t fight, we don’t get anything.”
As the trucks drove away, men climbed onto them, scrambling for any remaining scraps.
“The conditions are very challenging and we are hoping for a system to be in place,” Qassas said. “Some people go home with some 200 kilograms (441 pounds), and others go home with only one kilogram (35 ounces). It is a mafia-like system.”
After relentless efforts to get food from the trucks, it has become a routine for men to be seen coming back carrying flour sacks on their back, as well as carrying wounded and dead bodies from near the aid sites.
Yusif Abu Mor from Khan Younis said the trucks’ aid system is akin to a death trap.
“This aid is stained with humiliation and blood,” he said, adding that aid seekers run the risk of being killed by shootings or run over by aid trucks surrounded by crowds of hungry Palestinians.
Slide toward famine
Israel’s blockade and military offensive have made it nearly impossible to safely deliver aid, contributing to the territory’s slide toward famine nearly 22 months into the war with Hamas. Aid groups say Israel’s week-old measures to allow more aid in are far from sufficient. Families of hostages in Gaza fear starvation affects them too, but blame Hamas.
As international alarm has mounted, several countries have airdropped aid over Gaza. The U.N. and aid groups call such drops costly and dangerous for residents, and say they deliver far less aid than trucks.
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Shurafa reported from Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip. Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed.
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