“What is it if not a war crime?” he asked rhetorically in an interview with CNN.

Polls in Israel have repeatedly shown that most of the country supports a comprehensive ceasefire agreement that would see the release of the remaining 58 hostages held in Gaza and an end to the war.

But Netanyahu has refused to commit to an end to the war, insisting that Israel’s expanding military campaign in Gaza will continue until the defeat of Hamas.

Like the hostage families, many of whom have given up on Netanyahu, Olmert placed his hope in US President Donald Trump to end the war. Trump, he said, is one of the only people who has the ability to compel Netanyahu to end the war.

“I really certainly think that he is the only person perhaps that can force the Israeli prime minister to come to terms with reality and with the moral reality of what is being accomplished by this government,” he told CNN.