ISTANBUL

A former Israeli commander appealed on Monday to US President Donald Trump to intervene and force Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war in the Gaza Strip.

“For now, all we can do is to pray that Donald Trump will come to his senses and realize that he needs to force Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war, release the hostages, rebuild the country, and save it from collapse,” Yitzhak Brik, a retired major general, said in an opinion piece in the Haaretz newspaper.

Ruling out the possibility of a permanent Israeli military rule in Gaza, Brik said the army ground forces “are very small and exhausted.”

“Even in places they do enter, such as Beit Hanoun (in northern Gaza), they do not fully take over the area and remain only at a few points.”

He warned that annexing parts of Gaza would isolate Israel internationally and lead to further economic and diplomatic boycotts.

“It is political suicide. Almost the entire world is standing against us,” Brik said, citing growing international calls for the recognition of a Palestinian state in response to Israel’s actions in Gaza.

The retired commander described Israel as “a pariah and leper state” and criticized the current government that “will be remembered in the history of Israel with eternal disgrace.”

“A small, extremist, messianic group, led by the Prime Minister, that has brought the state to an end.”

Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing nearly 61,000 Palestinians, almost half of them women and children. The military campaign has devastated the enclave and brought it to the verge of famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.