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More than 2,700 health workers signed a pro-ceasefire letter that excised a call to free Israeli hostages
(JTA) – Like many American Jews, Matt Greenberg has been bombarded with requests to sign open letters about the state of affairs in Israel and Gaza.
One that he received this week in a WhatsApp group particularly incensed Greenberg, who helms a Jewish social services nonprofit in Stamford, Connecticut. Saying that it would be published in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet, the letter called for a ceasefire in Gaza as the top priority of global health workers.
The letter also included little condemnation of Hamas, the terror group that killed more than 1,400 Israelis and took more than 200 hostages. And a clause calling for the immediate release of all hostages was removed after signatories complained.
Greenberg was incensed by what he saw and decided to sign a competing pro-Israel letter also circulating in the medical community. So he clicked the link and added his name to “Call to Action: An Open Letter from Global Health Professionals.”
Only later did Greenberg realize he had signed the wrong letter. This passionate Israel supporter and head of his regional Jewish social services organization had mistakenly added his name to a petition that included a health advisor to the anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace, and couldn’t figure out how to remove it.
“I originally thought it was a pro-Israel, anti-Palestinian letter,” Greenberg told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. “Obviously it was the reverse.”
He added, “I unfortunately didn’t read the letter well enough and properly to understand what it meant and what it was saying.”
Greenberg’s experience is a window into the dizzying stream of petitions and open letters that have been circulating in the weeks since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the start of Israel’s retaliatory strikes in Gaza. Open letters and social media posts have become a major currency of protest, with statements from Hollywood celebrities, students at elite universities, and titans of arts and culture weighing in. So many letters are flying that even people who want to sign ones that align with their values can’t track them all.
Greenberg’s experience also points to the fact that deep division over what to say and do about the Israel-Hamas war extends into the global medical community, where there was apparently a dispute over whether to call for the release of the hundreds of hostages taken by Hamas.
The most immediate priority listed in the Lancet letter is a ceasefire in Gaza, followed by establishing humanitarian corridors and “the recognition of human rights of all people in the region.” Hamas broke a 2021 ceasefire when it attacked Israel, and Israel and its allies reject the idea of a ceasefire because it would leave Hamas in control in Gaza.
The Lancet letter also pushes for organizations to be allowed access to investigate “alleged war crimes,” singling out the bombing of a hospital in Gaza that Hamas blamed on Israel but which multiple news organizations and countries, including the United States, have attributed to a failed Palestinian rocket. The letter says it ultimately hopes to address “antisemitism and Islamophobia worldwide.”
A note attached to the open letter explains that one addendum, “The immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” was added during the drafting process only to be removed 24 hours later “based on debate and feedback.” No further explanation was given. Hamas is currently holding an estimated 220 Israeli hostages.
“I can’t for the life of me imagine why any rational person would want to have that removed,” said Greenberg, who is CEO of the Schoke Jewish Family Service of Fairfield County. “There’s so much talk of humanitarian aid and all that kind of stuff, you’d think that would be a given.”
The open letter had not been published by Thursday afternoon, only saying that it had been submitted for publication to The Lancet, which has published an array of pieces on the conflict, including a call for humanitarian aid to Gaza and a separate letter, signed by 1,500 Israeli health care professionals, calling for “the immediate release of Israeli hostages.”
But the letter was still continuing to amass signatures, crossing the 2,700-signature threshold before pausing. Matt Greenberg was still listed at 1,743.
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The post More than 2,700 health workers signed a pro-ceasefire letter that excised a call to free Israeli hostages appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.