Children gather near a destroyed makeshift shelter following an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia

London (AFP) - Members of the largest organisation representing British Jews have said Thursday they can no longer “turn a blind eye” to the Gaza war and that “Israel’s soul is being ripped out”.

In a major break with the Board of Deputies of British Jews’ policy of supporting the Israeli leadership, 36 members criticised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in an open letter published in the Financial Times.

“The inclination to avert our eyes is strong, as what is happening is unbearable, but our Jewish values compel us to stand up and to speak out,” said the letter, signed by around one in eight members of the Board of Deputies.

It is the first time since the start of the war, after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks, that members of the body have publicly criticised the Israeli government.

“We cannot turn a blind eye or remain silent” about the loss of life since a two-month truce collapsed on March 18, the letter added.

“Israel’s soul is being ripped out and we, members of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, fear for the future of the Israel we love and have such close ties to,” added the letter.

The signatories accused the “most extremist of Israeli governments” of “openly encouraging violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.”

“We stand against the war. We acknowledge and mourn the loss of Palestinian life,” they added.

A spokesperson for the Board of Deputies told the Guardian that other members would “no doubt put more emphasis on the fundamental responsibility of Hamas for this ghastly situation.”

The president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, Phil Rosenberg, said the letter left an “impression” the criticism was “the position of the Board of Deputies as an organisation, and therefore the position of the UK Jewish community as a whole”.

He also said that Hamas “is barely mentioned” and that “absolutely no agency is given to Hamas regarding the failure of the implementation of the second stage of the hostage deal”.

Hamas’s October 7 attack left 1,218 dead in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data. Of the 251 hostages seized, 58 are still in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

At least 1,691 Palestinians have been killed since the resumption of the latest Israeli offensive, bringing the death toll in Gaza since the start of the war to 51,065, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled health ministry.