INTERVIEW: Resigned Israeli pilot calls for end to Gaza genocide, prosecution of perpetrators

Resigned Israeli Air Force pilot Yonatan Shapira called on Wednesday for an end to Israeli massacres in Gaza, accusing Western nations of supporting the ongoing genocide against Palestinians in the enclave.

“No other force in the region has killed as many innocent civilians as Israeli pilots,” Shapira, who resigned from the military in 2003, told Anadolu.

Shapira, who served as a squadron leader in the Israeli Air Force in 2023 amid the second Palestinian Intifada, said Israeli warplanes were sent to Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon to kill civilians.

“I began to realize that these were acts of terrorism,” he said.

He recalled an airstrike in which a 1,000-ton bomb was dropped on a home in one of Gaza's most densely populated neighborhoods at midnight, killing numerous civilians, most of them children.

“The perpetrators of these massacres in Gaza should not escape justice. They must be arrested, interrogated, and sentenced to life in prison,” he said.

He added that if Israeli soldiers and officers knew they would be held accountable for their crimes, they would think twice before committing massacres.

- Western complicity

Shapira criticized the global silence over Israel's military assaults in Gaza and the indirect support some Western nations provide by supplying weapons and fighter jets.

“Most Western and European countries are complicit in this genocide. Their failure to stop supporting Israel is the reason it continues,” he said.

He stressed that no one has the right to remain silent.

“This is how the Holocaust happened to my ancestors, and this is how the genocide in Gaza is happening now.”

Shapira noted that Palestinians in Gaza know exactly who is responsible. “They find missile fragments in the rubble and recognize that they were made in the UK and the US,” he said.

The resigned Israeli pilot called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, which includes far-right politicians, “worse than any bad government” and “Nazi-like.” He also accused those normalizing ties with Israel of being complicit in its crimes.

- Palestinian struggle

Shapira said the resumption of Israeli attacks on Gaza on March 18 was driven by Netanyahu's political interests and the corruption cases against him.

“Netanyahu's government doesn't care about the Israeli hostages or even the Israeli public. It only cares about staying in power,” he said.

The Israeli army launched a surprise aerial campaign on the Gaza Strip on March 18, killing 830 people and injuring nearly 1,800 others despite a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.

The UN estimated that around 124,000 Palestinians have been displaced again since Israel resumed its attacks on Gaza.

Shapira accused the Israeli government of ignoring public and hostage demands to halt the Gaza offensive, noting that Netanyahu believes the hostages in Gaza will eventually be killed.

“When these hostages return home alive after being bombed by their own military, they will have nothing good to say about Israel's leadership, government, or army,” he added.

He concluded by expressing solidarity with Gaza. “The hearts of many anti-Zionist Jews worldwide are with the people of Gaza. We stand with them in their struggle and will continue to support them until Gaza and Palestine are free,” he said.

Nearly 50,200 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 113,700 injured in a brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 2023.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November 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.