Bella Hadid ended her “silence” on the Israel-Hamas War on Thursday, posting to social media that she has “received hundreds of death threats daily” in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, and that her “heart is bleeding with pain from the trauma I am seeing unfold” in Gaza.
The American supermodel, who has a Palestinian father, also mourned for the Israeli families impacted by the terrorist attacks, which she condemned.
“My heart is bleeding with pain from the trauma I am seeing unfold, as well as the generational trauma of my Palestinian blood. 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,” Hadid wrote.
“I mourn for the Israeli families that have been dealing with the pain and aftermath of Oct. 7. Regardless of the history of the land, I condemn the terrorist attacks on any civilians, anywhere,” she continued. “Harming women and children and inflicting terror does not and should not do any good for the Free Palestine movement. 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.”
Read the post via Instagram in full below:
Hadid preceded the statement with a video compilation of Palestinian cities, soundtracked to an a cappella version of “Team” by Lorde.
It’s been nearly two weeks since the conflict in the Middle East escalated to new heights on Oct. 7 when the militant extremist group Hamas killed 1,400 Israeli civilians in a surprise terrorist attack. The ensuing time saw a military response from Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with airstrikes in the Gaza Strip that, per the Palestinian health ministry, has left over 6,500 dead, including 2,700 children. President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he has “no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed. I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war.”
“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,” Hadid’s post concluded. “I stand with Humanity, knowing that peace and safety belong to us all.”
Hadid’s statement has garnered a number of comments in response, with one user writing, simply, “Your voice is very important for Palestine.”