Around 350 Israeli authors have signed a letter calling for an end to the devastating war in Gaza, the Times of Israel newspaper reported on Tuesday.

The signatories include well-known writers such as David Grossman, Joshua Sobol and Zeruya Shalev.

“This war endangers the lives of IDF soldiers, of the hostages, and causes horrific suffering for helpless civilians in Gaza.

“The acts being committed in Gaza and the occupied territories are not done in our name, but they will be on our account,’’ the letter noted.

The signatories call for an immediate end to the military operation against the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement.

The return of the hostages abducted to the Gaza Strip and an international agreement on the future of the Gaza Strip.

The authors accuse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of continuing the war for personal reasons.

There have been several similar calls from within the ranks of the military demanding an end to the war and an agreement with Hamas on the release of the hostages.

The Gaza war was triggered by the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel led by Hamas and other extremist groups.

1,200 people were killed, and more than 250 Israelis were taken hostage and held in the Gaza Strip.

Since then, according to the health authority in the Gaza Strip, around 51,000 people have been killed, a large proportion of them women and minors.

The information, which did not distinguish between combatants and civilians, cannot be independently verified. Israel has spoken of around 20,000 terrorists killed.

(dpa/NAN)