More than 850 parents of Israeli conscripts and reservists’ soldiers who fought or are still fighting in occupied Gaza issue on Thursday, January 9, a public letter accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of irresponsibly and unnecessarily risking their children’s lives and demanding to end the war.

Protesters march through the streets of Jerusalem, demanding an end to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, Syria, and Lebanon. Police forcibly confiscated posters bearing messages such as “Grandma, what were you doing during the genocide in Gaza?” and “Stop the genocide,” and three protesters were arrested, December 27, 2024 (Photo: Activestills)

In a letter addressed to the premier, the relatives accuse him of leading “a war without a horizon, unlike anything in our history, solely in the interest of your own political survival.” “Our sons and daughters set out on a necessary war brought upon us by your actions. Our children are cannon fodder”, they claim. “They lost many friends and are continuing to die and get injured, mentally and physically.

Now, after more than a year of war, they assert the only way for the returning of the hostages is as part of a deal with Hamas, alleging that the war is being extended aimlessly and that the Israeli army “has no reason to stay in Gaza, besides fulfilling messianic wishes of settling there.” “We accuse you of abandoning the hostages and the soldiers,” the parents write, threatening to launch an “all-out struggle,” beginning in dozens of cities next Saturday.

On Wednesday, three Israeli soldiers were killed and three were wounded while fighting in the northern Gaza Strip. The three were named Staff Sgt. Matityahu Ya’akov Perel, 22, from the Beit El settlement in the occupied West Bank, Staff Sgt. Kanaoo Kasa, 22, from Beit Shemesh, and Staff Sgt. Nevo Fisher, 20, from the Bruchin settlement. The incident came after three other troops were killed and several more wounded in separate incidents the previous two days and brought Israel’s toll in war in the Gaza Strip to 398.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the number of people killed since the start of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, has surged to 46,006, the majority of whom are children and women. Some 109,378 others have been wounded.

Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32375