International artists call for Gaza ceasefire NOW

Several international celebrities, including Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Mark Ruffalo, Anoushka Shankar, Dua Lipa, Zayn Malik, Riz Ahmed, Rupi Kaur and others have written to US President Joe Biden, rallying for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in the Israel-Hamas war.

In the joint letter, they write: "We ask that, as President of the United States, you and the US Congress call for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Gaza and Israel before another life is lost. More than 5,000 people have been killed in the last week and a half – a number any person of conscience knows is catastrophic. We believe all life is sacred, no matter faith or ethnicity and we condemn the killing of Palestinian and Israeli civilians."

In their plea, they urged the Biden administration, Congress, and all world leaders to "honour all of the lives in the Holy Land" and called for them to facilitate a ceasefire "without delay" — an end to the bombing of Gaza, and the safe release of hostages.

Half of Gaza’s two million residents are children, more than two-thirds are refugees, and their descendants are being forced to flee their homes, they stated. "Humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach them."

They added: "We believe that the United States can play a vital diplomatic role in ending the suffering and we are adding our voices to those from the US Congress, UNICEF, Doctors without Borders, The International Committee of The Red Cross, and so many others. Saving lives is a moral imperative. To echo UNICEF, 'Compassion — and international law — must prevail'.”

They iterated that as of writing the letter, more than 6,000 bombs had been dropped on Gaza in the last 12 days, resulting in one child being killed every 15 minutes. In the letter, a UNICEF spokesperson added:

"Beyond our pain and mourning for all of the people there and their loved ones around the world we are motivated by an unbending will to stand for our common humanity. We stand for freedom, justice, dignity and peace for all people – and a deep desire to stop more bloodshed", the letter stated, while quoting emergency relief chief Martin Griffiths' words in UN News: "History is watching."

The letter is supported by Oxfam America and ActionAidUSA, and the signatories include:

• Aasif Mandvi

• Abbi Jacobson

• Adam Lambert

• Aida Rodriguez

• Alena Smith

• Ali Adler

• Amandla Stenberg

• Adam McKay

• Afshan Azad

• Ahamed Weinberg

• Alan Cumming

• Alfonso Cuarón

• Alia Shawkat

• Allison Russell

• Alyssa Milano

• Amanda Gorman

• Amanda Seales

• Amber Tamblyn

• America Ferrera

• Aminatou Sow

• Aminé

• Andrew Ahn

• Andrew Garfield

• Anees

• Ani DiFranco

• Annie Lennox

• Anoushka Shankar

• Aria Mia Loberti

• Arian Moayed

• ASAP Nast

• Asim Chaudhry

• Atsuko Okatsuka

• Augustus Prew

• Ayo Edebiri

• Bassam Tariq

• Bassem Youssef

• Bella Hadid

• Belly

• Ben Affleck

• Bobbi Salvör Menuez

• Bonnie Wright

• Boots Riley

• Bradley Cooper

• Brian Cox

• Brian Eno

• Busy Phillipps

• Carl Clemons-Hopkins

• Caroline Polachek

• Cat Power

• Cate Blanchett

• Channing Tatum

• Charm La’Donna

• Chase Sui Wonders

• Cherien Dabis

• Chicano Batman

• Chioke Nassor

• Clairo

• Clean Bandit

• Connie Britton

• Cree Summer

• Cynthia Nixon

• Dan Bucatinsky

• Daniel Caesar

• Darius Marder

• Dave Merheje

• David Clennon

• David Cross

• David Oyelowo

• Deb Never

• Dev Hynes

• Dina Shihabi

• Diplo

• DJ Snake

• Dominic Cooper

• Dominique Fishback

• Dominique Thorne

• Drake

• Dua Lipa

• Ebon Moss-Bachrach

• Eisa Davis

• Elliott Gould

• Elvira Lind

• Elyanna

• Emily Gordon

• Emily Meade

• Emma Seligman

• Ewan McGregor

• Farah Bsaiso

• Farida Khelfa

• Fatima Farheen Mirza

• Florence Pugh

• Fredwreck

• Gigi Hadid

• Gracie Abrams

• Hadar Cohen

• Hari Nef

• Hasan Minhaj

• Helado Negro

• Hend Sabry

• Howard Rodman

• Ilana Glazer

• Indya Moore

• James Schamus

• Jay Shetty

• Jai Courtney

• Jas Lin

• Jenna Ortega

• Jenni Konner

• Jennifer Lopez

• Jenny Yang

• Jeremy Allen White

• Jeremy Strong

• Jes Tom

• Jessica Chastain

• Jessie Buckley

• Jesse Peretz

• Jesse Williams

• Joaquin Phoenix

• Jodi Balfour

• Joe Alwyn

• Joel Edgerton

• Joel Kim Booster

• John Cusack

• Jon Stewart

• Jordan Peele

• JP Saxe

• Judah Friedlander

• Judy Reyes

• Kathryn Grody

• Kathy Najimy

• Katie Gavin

• Kaytranada

• Kehlani

• Kendrick Sampson

• K.Flay

• Kimiko Glenn

• Kimya Dawson

• Kirsten Dunst

• Kristen Stewart

• Kumail Nanjiani

• Kylie Sparks

• Lauren Jauregui

• Lena Waithe

• Leo Sheng

• Lionel Boyce

• LisaGay Hamilton

• Lola Kirke

• Louisa Jacobson

• Macklemore

• Majid Jordan

• Mandy Patinkin

• Mahershala Ali

• Manish Dayal

• Marcia Cross

• Margaret Cho

• Mark Ruffalo

• Mark Rylance

• Martin Starr

• Mary Elizabeth Winstead

• Massari

• May Calamawy

• Maysoon Zayid

• Maz Jobrani

• Megan Boone

• Melanie Martinez

• Melissa Barrera

• Michael Malarkey

• Michael Moore

• Michael Shannon

• Michael Stipe

• Michelle Wolf

• Mickey Sumner

• Miguel

• Milla Jovovich

• Mira Nair

• Miranda July

• Misha Collins

• Mo Amer

• Mona Chalabi

• Morgan Spector

• Mousa Kraish

• MUNA

• Mustafa Ahmed

• Nabil Elderkin

• Naomi Scott

• Natalia Cordova

• Natalie Merchant

• Nelly Furtado

• Nia DaCosta

• Nicole Ansari Cox

• Noah “40” Shebib

• Omar Apollo

• Omar Metwally

• Omar Sy

• Oscar Isaac

• Padma Lakshmi

• Patti Smith

• Peter Gabriel

• Poorna Jagannathan

• Poppy Liu

• Quinta Brunson

• Rachel McAdams

• Rachel Sennott

• Ramy Youssef

• Raveena Aurora

• Richa Moorjani

• Richard Gere

• River L. Ramirez

• Riz Ahmed

• Roberta Colindrez

• Rooney Mara

• Rosaline Elbay

• Rosario Dawson

• Rosie O’Donnell

• Rowan Blanchard

• Run The Jewels

• Rupi Kaur

• Ruth Negga

• Ryan Coogler

• Ryan Piers Williams

• Saagar Shaikh

• Sami Zayn

• Sandra Oh

• Sarah Bahbah

• Sarah Jones

• Sarah Snook

• Sarah Sophie Flicker

• Sarita Choudhury

• Sasami Ashworth

• Sean Miura

• Sebastian Silva

• Sepideh Moafi

• Shailene Woodley

• Shaka King

• Shruti Ganguly

• SimiHaze

• Simon Helberg

• Snoh Aalegra

• Sophia Bush

• Stephanie Suganami

• Susan Sarandon

• Sydney Lemmon

• Tahar Rahim

• Tanya Selvaratnam

• Tarek Bishara

• Tavi Gevinson

• Taylour Paige

• Tessa Thompson

• Tommy Genesis

• Tony Kushner

• Travon Free

• V (formerly Eve Ensler)

• Vic Mensa

• Victoria Monét

• Wallace Shawn

• Wanda Sykes

• Yara Shahidi

• Yumi Sakugawa

• Zayn Malik

• Zoe Chao

• Zoe Lister Jones

• 070 Shake