Nearly 2,500 Israeli artists from diverse disciplines have signed an open letter addressed to Prime Minister Netanyahu, urging him to end the humanitarian disaster in Gaza without delay.

Among the signatories were Israel Opera Music Director Dan Ettinger, conductors Asher Fisch and David Greilsammer, composers Haim Permont, Betty Olivero, and Ella Sheriff, librettist David Grossman, and choreographer Ohad Naharin.

The petition, titled “Stop the Horror in Gaza,” states, “Before our eyes, a horror of historic proportions is unfolding. We are responsible, as human beings and as Israelis, for the atrocities being committed in our name, just a few kilometers from us, in an impossible reality and under terrible suffering. We fear for the fate of the residents of Gaza, the hostages, our sons and daughters, and for the future of our society.”

Later in the petition, Israel’s leaders are accused of deliberately starving Gazans and killing innocent Palestinians, ratcheting up simmering anti-war sentiment with harsh rhetoric largely outside Israel’s mainstream until now. The statement urges those involved in the war to disobey “illegal orders” and “not commit war crimes,” demanding an end to the war and the return of all hostages.

As of Aug. 3, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that the number of Palestinians who have died from starvation caused by the Israeli blockade has reached 175, including 93 children. The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has killed more than 60,800 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

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