Bella Hadid has spoken out about the ongoing situation in Israel and Palestine in a post to her 60.5 million Instagram followers.
She began by asking people to “forgive [her] for [her] silence” before going on to explain that her family have been intimidated and harassed for supporting Palestine. “I’ve been sent hundreds of death threats daily, my phone number has been leaked, and my family has felt to be in danger,” she wrote. “But I can not be silenced any longer. Fear is not an option. The people and children of Palestine, especially in Gaza, cannot afford our silence. We are not brave – they are.”
“My heart is bleeding with pain from the trauma I am seeing unfold, as well as the generational trauma of my Palestinian blood,” she continued. “Seeing the aftermath from the airstrikes in Gaza, I mourn with all the mothers who have lost children and the children who cry alone, all the lost fathers, brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties, friends that will never again walk this earth.”
She added that she wholeheartedly condemns the October 7 Hamas attacks and is mourning for the Israeli families with the “pain and aftermath” of the assault. “I condemn the terrorist attacks on any civilians, anywhere,” she wrote. “I believe deep in my heart, that no child, no people anywhere, should be taken away from their family either temporarily or indefinitely. That goes for Israeli and Palestinian people alike.”
She drew attention to the “urgent humanitarian crisis” in Gaza and highlighted the desperate need for food, water, and fuel in the region. “Wars have laws – and they must be upheld, no matter what,” she wrote. “We need to keep pressure on our leaders, wherever we are, not to forget the urgent needs of the people of Gaza, and to ensure that innocent Palestinian civilians are not the forgotten casualties of this war.”
For more information about how you can support victims of the violence in Gaza, head here.
