Hundreds of writers call for Gaza ceasefire and aid

More than 300 cultural figures across the United Kingdom and Ireland have signed a letter demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and unrestricted aid to people there facing starvation.

Signatories include bestselling writers such as Ian McEwan, Jeanette Winterson, Zadie Smith and Pico Iyer. Musician Brian Eno and Russell T. Davies, the showrunner of the BBC’s revived Doctor Who, also signed the letter.

The letter begins with a poem by Palestinian poet Hiba Abu Nada, who was killed nearly two years ago in an Israeli airstrike. It asks for an end to what it calls “the collective silence and inaction” that has followed tens of thousands of Palestinian deaths since Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants killed more than a thousand mostly Israeli civilians in communities close to the Gaza border.

“The government of Israel has renewed its assault on Gaza with unrestrained brutality,” the letter says. “Public statements by Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir openly express genocidal intentions. The use of the words ‘genocide’ or ‘acts of genocide’ to describe what is happening in Gaza is no longer debated by international legal experts or human rights organizations.”

The letter also calls the atrocities committed by Hamas “crimes of war” and “crimes against humanity.” It calls for the release of hostages and denounces antisemitism, anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli prejudice.

“We reject and abhor attacks, hate and violence — in writing, speech and action — against Palestinian, Israeli, and Jewish people in all and any form,” the letter says, which also demands sanctions against the state of Israel if the government does not agree to a ceasefire.