Tilda Swinton, Steve Coogan and Miriam Margolyes among 2,000 artists calling for Gaza ceasefire

Open letter, also signed by Charles Dance and Maxine Peake, accuses government of ‘aiding and abetting’ Israel’s alleged ‘war crimes’

Tilda Swinton, Steve Coogan and Miriam Margolyes are among more than two thousand cultural figures to have signed a letter calling for a Gaza ceasefire.

Charles Dance, Maxine Peake and Peter Mullan are also named on the open letter that’s accused the government of “not only tolerating war crimes but aiding and abetting them” in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

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On Saturday (7 October), the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched its largest-ever attack on Israel, which killed more than 1,000 people.

In response, Israel has imposed a “total siege” on Gaza, ordering evacuations ahead of an expected ground invasion. Rights groups have warned that the move could be classed as a war crime if carried out, with more than a million people fleeing their homes amid dwindling water supplies and the impending collapse of hospitals.

The letter, which has also been signed by directors Mike Leigh, Asif Kapadia and Michael Winterbottom, Outlander star Sam Heughan as well as comedians Josie Long and Frankie Boyle, calls for an “end to the unprecedented cruelty being inflicted on Gaza”.

Those who have signed the letter “demand that our governments end their military and political support for Israel’s actions”, while condemning Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant’s description of Palestinians as “human animals”.

The full letter reads:“We are witnessing a crime and a catastrophe. Israel has reduced much of Gaza to rubble, and cut off the supply of water, power, food and medicine to 2.3 million Palestinians. In the words of the UN’s undersecretary for humanitarian affairs, ‘the spectre of death’ is hanging over the territory.

“Gaza is already a society of refugees and the children of refugees. Now, in their hundreds of thousands, bombarded from air, sea and land, Palestinians whose grandparents were forced out of their homes at the barrel of a gun are again being told to flee – or face collective punishment on an unimaginable scale. Dispossessed of rights, described by Israel’s minister of defence as “human animals”, they have become people to whom almost anything can be done.

“Our governments are not only tolerating war crimes but aiding and abetting them. There will come a time when they are held to account for their complicity. But for now, while condemning every act of violence against civilians and every infringement of international law whoever perpetrates them, our obligation is to do all we can to bring an end to the unprecedented cruelty being inflicted on Gaza.

Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

“We support the global movement against the destruction of Gaza and the mass displacement of the Palestinian people. We demand that our governments end their military and political support for Israel’s actions.

“We call for an immediate ceasefire and the opening of Gaza’s crossings to allow humanitarian aid to enter unhindered.”

Other stars listed as signatories on the letter include playwrights Tanika Gupta and Abbie Spallen, artist Poppy Jackson and pghotographer Emily Rose.

On Monday (16 October), actor Riz Ahmed accused Israel’ of “morally indefensible war crimes” against Gaza in the wake of the deadly Hamas attack.