Mark Ruffalo and Susan Sarandon in celebrity call to restore Palestinian healthcare services

(L-R) Israeli actor Amer Hlehel, Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania, actress Saja Kilani, actor Motaz Malhees and actress Clara Khoury pose with a portrait of Hind Rajab at the 82nd International Venice Film Festival on 3 September 2025

Ben Kroll reports in Haaretz on 13 January 2026:

American actors Mark Ruffalo, Joaquin Phoenix and Susan Sarandon called on Israel to immediately restore healthcare services in Gaza and the West Bank in an open letter signed Monday by dozens of activists, filmmakers, doctors and NGOs.

“Israel’s systematic attacks on hospitals and unlawful blockade have collapsed Gaza’s healthcare system,” the letter said. “In the West Bank, emergency medical personnel aboard ambulances are also blocked, beaten, captured and shot.”

Oxfam and Human Rights Watch were among the prominent international rights groups to sign the letter, alongside the Israeli NGOs B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights. They were joined by actors Mahershala Ali and Cynthia Nixon, as well as comedians Rosie O’Donnell, Ilana Glazer, and Hannah Einbinder.

Open letter to the international community calling for the restoration of healthcare in Gaza and the West Bank Wesam Hamada, the mother of five-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed alongside six relatives in a 2024 IDF strike, also signed the letter.

Hind’s story is a focal point of the document, which details how the young girl was left among the bodies of her family for hours, pleading for help over the phone. The letter cites her death as part of the estimated 20,000 children killed during the conflict.

“The government of Israel has deliberately inflicted conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of Palestinians in Gaza and then denied the very help that could save them,” the signatories charged.

As of late December, at least 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the cease-fire with Hamas took effect in October, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. “Israeli forces carry out daily attacks in Gaza, often with the complicity, silence, and political cover of allied countries and their leaders,” the letter stated.

The signatories called on the international community to demand that Israel allow for free movement between Gaza and the West Bank, calling it an “integral part of the Palestinian healthcare system.”

On Sunday, Israel permitted a Gaza resident to leave the enclave to receive life-saving medical treatment in the West Bank for the first time since Hamas’ attack on October 7, 2023.

Israel had halted the transfer of patients from Gaza to the West Bank and East Jerusalem for medical care after the October 7 attack – a practice it had previously permitted. Since then, it has approved the evacuation of only a small number of patients and wounded individuals to third countries such as Egypt and Turkey.

The letter also urged “unhindered and sustained humanitarian access into Palestine,” adding that Israel must allow for construction materials needed for the “rehabilitation of essential infrastructure” to enter Gaza.

Additionally, the letter calls on Israel to release all “medical and humanitarian personnel arbitrarily detained,” while demanding an independent investigation into all cases where medical care was denied or medical teams were targeted. Accountability, the letter asserts, would serve as “a deterrence from further violations against survivors.”

“The government of Israel must be held accountable to its obligations under the cease-fire agreement and international law. Without a clear and forceful international response, Palestinian deaths and patterns of medical aid obstruction will continue,” the letter concludes.

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