About 100 Israeli reserve military doctors have called for an end to the war on Gaza and a prisoner exchange, in a petition addressed to the government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the army leadership, and the Knesset, Israeli media reported Friday.

The petition stated, "We warn that the continuation of the fighting and the abandonment of the kidnapped individuals contradicts the commitment to the sanctity of life and the Medical Corps' commitment not to abandon any of our personnel behind."

Israel's Army Radio quoted the petition's initiators as saying, "We have confidence in the Chief of Staff and the army leadership to send us only on worthy missions. We are not calling for non-compliance with military service, nor are we hinting at it. Some of us have received another draft order, for several more weeks, and we certainly intend to comply. We will always comply, but we want the state to have its eyes open to reality."

The radio station noted that the petition has not been officially published, that it is a nascent initiative, and that many people are expected to join it.

Demands for an end to the war and a prisoner exchange have been growing within the Israeli army's reserve forces. Yesterday, it was announced that hundreds of soldiers in the navy and armored corps had signed a petition demanding an end to the war, joining nearly 1,000 reserve and retired fighter pilots who published a similar petition in the media the previous morning.

Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir decided to suspend the reserve pilots who signed the petition from military service, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described them as a "group of extremists."