Supermodels Gigi and Bella Hadid have donated a combined $1 million to aid groups supporting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Bella Hadid’s agent has said.
A representative for Bella, 27, told the PA news agency that the money was set to be distributed between four organizations: Heal Palestine, Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, World Central Kitchen, and United Nations Relief and Works Agency, per the MailOnline.
The sisters, whose father is the Palestinian real-estate developer Mohamed Anwar Hadid, have previously voiced their support for those affected by the conflict in Gaza.
The sisters are among the most high-profile celebrity supporters of the Palestinian cause.
Following Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel, Gigi, 29, posted a statement on Instagram that got millions of likes, saying: “My thoughts are with all those affected by this unjustifiable tragedy, and every day that innocent lives are taken by this conflict – too many of which are children.”
“I have deep empathy and heartbreak for the Palestinian struggle and life under occupation, it’s a responsibility I hold daily,” the statement continued.
“While I have hopes and dreams for Palestinians, none of them include the harm of a Jewish person,” it added.
In May, Bella, 27, wrote on Instagram that she was “devastated at the loss of the Palestinian people and the lack of empathy coming from the government systems worldwide.”
She also says in the post that she is the child of a Nakba survivor. According to the UN, Nakba means “catastrophe” in Arabic and is used to refer to “the mass displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.”
Bella was also recently seen at the Cannes Film Festival wearing a dress resembling the Palestinian keffiyeh.
Mohamed Hadid has also used Instagram to make his position on the conflict clear.
In a post on Saturday, he called President Joe Biden “the butcher of Gaza” and claimed he would “never vote” for him again.
The donations follow a major Israeli assault on the southern Gazan city of Rafah, which led to the deaths of 45 people in a tent camp following an Israeli airstrike, prompting global outrage.
Biden has since announced a three-phase proposal to end the war in Gaza.
The plan calls for a cease-fire, an exchange of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas of Gaza, among other things.
On Saturday, protesters gathered in Tel Aviv and around the world, demanding Israel’s leaders accept the proposal.
Attendees of the Tel Aviv demonstration said that the protest was the largest since Hamas’ October 7 attacks, per The Times of Israel. Roughly 1,200 people were killed in Israel during the attacks, and around a further 240 were taken hostage in Gaza.
More than 36,000 Palestinians have died in the following conflict in Gaza, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.
