Hundreds of reservists and retired officers in Israel’s air force signed a letter on Thursday urging the Israeli government to agree to a deal with Hamas to return hostages, even at the price of stopping the war in Gaza.
The letter, which was signed by roughly a thousand people, including a former chief of staff and other former senior military leaders, laid bare a growing divide in the Israeli military over the handling of the war. The air force has been a key part of Israel’s effort in Gaza, carrying out strikes that have flattened much of the enclave and left thousands dead.
The appeal reflected heightened concern about the fate of the hostages after a shaky cease-fire between Israel and Hamas collapsed in mid-March. The hostages have been in the captivity of militants in Gaza for more than 18 months.
The letter immediately drew a rebuke from the Israeli prime minister’s office, which said that “statements that weaken the Israel Defense Forces and strengthen our enemy during wartime” were “unforgivable.”
The Israeli military said it had decided to discharge active-duty reservists who signed the letter, though the numbers that could be dismissed were not expected to be high. Most of the people who signed the list were not active duty, the military said. The timing of the dismissals was not clear.
The letter was an unusually large-scale show of criticism from members of the air force about the way the war has been run. The military branch, in particular, has been a notable voice of opposition to the government.
Air force pilots threatened to stop serving in the military during nationwide protests in 2023 against deeply divisive government efforts to reduce the power of institutions, including the Supreme Court, that had acted as a check on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
The campaign was suspended after the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023, but last month the government returned to the effort, passing legislation that gave politicians more control over choosing judges.
At key points throughout the war, top military officials have pressed for a cease-fire behind the scenes, hoping to bring home more hostages and give weary troops a break. In January, Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire, but the war resumed after Israel and Hamas failed to extend it.
The letter on Thursday claimed that continuing the war would lead to the deaths of the hostages and argued that it was driven by political interests, rather than security.
“Stop the fighting and return all of the hostages — now!” it said. “Every day that passes endangers their lives.”
Critics of Mr. Netanyahu have accused him of prioritizing his political survival over the return of the hostages. Mr. Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners have threatened to leave the coalition if he ends the war without defeating Hamas.
Maj. Gen. Nimrod Sheffer, a former senior air force officer, said he had signed the letter because he felt the hostages in Gaza were becoming increasingly vulnerable. The Israeli government has said it believes 24 of the remaining 59 hostages to be alive.
“It is immoral to abandon 59 hostages in Gaza,” General Sheffer said in a phone interview. “Someone needs to say loud and clear that they need to come home,” he added. “We can’t stay quiet anymore.”
For Palestinians in Gaza, Israel’s renewed bombing campaign has brought about immense devastation. More than 1,000 people in Gaza have been killed since the war restarted, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and civilians in its casualty counts.
Israeli officials said that the airstrikes have targeted Hamas militants and their weapons infrastructure and that they were meant to ramp up pressure on the group to free more hostages. On Thursday, the Israeli military said that it had killed a Hamas commander who had participated in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack.
Gaza’s Civil Defense, an emergency rescue service under the Hamas-run interior ministry, said on Wednesday that a strike in the Shajaiye neighborhood of Gaza City had killed at least 23 people, including eight children. Israel has accused Hamas of embedding in civilian areas. The bodies of 40 people killed by Israel arrived at hospitals across Gaza on Wednesday, according the Health Ministry.
The Israeli military’s latest offensive in Gaza has included widespread evacuation orders, encompassing roughly half of the territory, according to a New York Times analysis of Israeli military maps. Satellite imagery also shows that the Israeli military was taking over Rafah, with forces closing in on the southernmost city in Gaza from two directions.
Last week, Mr. Netanyahu said Israel would establish a new corridor in Gaza, which he hinted would cut off territory in the southern city of Rafah from the rest of the strip. The Morag Corridor appeared to take its name from a former Israeli settlement in southern Gaza, from which Israel withdrew in 2005.
Samuel Granados and Lauren Leatherby contributed reporting.
