American actor Mark Ruffalo has called out Israel for its brutal war crimes in Gaza. In his tweet, Ruffalo urged compassion for Palestinians who are now being forced to leave their land as the death toll has now crossed 11,000.
No. Sorry. They are not “collateral damage” they are human beings who happen to have been born there and live there and most of those human beings are stuck there. Have some compassion, they are Palestinians not buildings or roads or things, they are human beings and so are the…
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) November 13, 2023
More than 11,100 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed since Israel’s violence escalated on Oct. 7, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Thousands are still trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings and homes, and millions are displaced and forced to reside in Gaza refugee camps that are also being bombed by Israel. Many of the dead also include aid workers, journalists and doctors.
Read more: Gaza’s largest hospital Al Shifa ‘not functioning’ amid Israeli assault
In Israel, the death toll stands at more than 1,200, most of whom were killed in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas. The U.S. believes that the number of hostages taken by Hamas militants during the attack is in the hundreds.
On Friday, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk accused both Israel and Hamas of war crimes and said that the only solution to the violence is to end the Israeli occupation and allow Palestinians the right to self-determination.
Israel’s ground forces battled Hamas militants near Gaza’s largest hospital, Al Shifa, where health officials say thousands of medics, patients and displaced families seeking shelter are trapped with no electricity and lack of medical supplies. Israel has accused Hamas of hiding in the hospital without providing evidence, but Hamas and hospital staff have both denied the allegations.
Read more: Israel-Hamas conflict dents demand for global air travel
“Some hospitals, including Al Quds and Al Shifa hospitals, have also received specific evacuation orders, in addition to the general evacuation orders to all of northern residents of Gaza. But such evacuation, as the World Health Organization has warned, is a ‘death sentence’ in a context where the entire medical system is collapsing and hospitals in southern Gaza have no capacity to absorb more patients,” Türk said.
“While bombings on Gaza from air, land and sea continue, the complete siege now lasting over one month has made it an agony for residents in Gaza to find basic necessities, and frankly to survive,” he said. “All forms of collective punishment must come to an end.”
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, al-Shifa’s last generator ran out of fuel on Saturday, resulting in the deaths of three premature babies and four other patients. Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra said that 37 other children may be on the verge of death after the life support machines stopped working in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit.