Celebrities Slam ’Israel’ Over Gaza Healthcare Crisis

By Staff, Agencies

Dozens of artists have joined doctors, rights groups, and humanitarian organizations in urging the immediate restoration of Gaza’s medical services, warning that “Israel’s” assaults have systematically dismantled the territory’s healthcare system, The Guardian reported.

In a letter shared exclusively with The Guardian, signatories including Cynthia Nixon, Mark Ruffalo, and Ilana Glazer accused “Israel” of targeting hospitals and enforcing a blockade that has devastated Gaza’s medical system, saying its “systematic attacks on hospitals and unlawful blockade have collapsed Gaza’s healthcare system.”

The letter, led by Wesam Hamada, mother of five-year-old Hind Rajab—killed by "Israeli" fire in Gaza in January 2024 while awaiting paramedics—was joined by director Kaouther Ben Hania, who said, “Hind Rajab did not die because help was impossible, but because it was denied.”

Other signatories include Brian Eno, Rosie O’Donnell, and Morgan Spector, alongside "Israeli" human rights group "B’Tselem" and Physicians for Human Rights. Organizers said the letter would be presented to UK and EU officials during parliamentary meetings scheduled for this week.

Among its demands is the “immediate, unconditional, unhindered and sustained humanitarian access into Palestine," including the entry of medical staff and aid workers.

The appeal came amid "Israel’s" recent decision to bar dozens of humanitarian agencies from operating in Gaza and the West Bank, including Médecins Sans Frontières [MSF].

MSF says it supports roughly one in five hospital beds in Gaza and assists one in three mothers during childbirth.

The UN says 94% of Gaza’s hospitals have been damaged or destroyed since 2023, with 1,722 healthcare workers killed and essential medical supplies blocked.

UN experts have called "Israel’s" assault on Gaza’s healthcare “medicide,” or the systematic destruction of medical services, which legal scholars link to genocide.

The letter urges global leaders to intervene to restore medical access in Gaza and the West Bank, where tightening movement restrictions have further limited healthcare availability.

MSF estimates over 18,500 Palestinians in Gaza need medical evacuation, with at least 1,000 dying while waiting for care.

Dr. Thaer Gazawneh said "Israeli" policies make life in Gaza “so unbearable that people will be forced to be displaced again,” while emergency care in the West Bank is hindered and at least 384 medical staff have been detained.

For Glazer, denying medical care is a moral failure, “Medicine and care is the bare minimum of humanity, and when even that’s blocked, it puts every person at risk of being treated…subhuman.”

Hamada said the campaign was deeply personal, recalling that her daughter Hind dreamed of becoming a doctor and always chose doctor’s toys over ordinary ones.