Last Updated: November 02, 2023, 09:32 IST
Ex-UNHCR special envoy Angelina Jolie stands during a visit to a camp of people displaced by war, in the southern province of Lahej, Yemen March 6, 2022. (Reuters File Photo)
Angelina Jolie served as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador from 2001 to 2012, and as Special Envoy from 2012 to 2022
Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has slammed Israel’s air campaign in war-torn Gaza as “the deliberate bombing of a trapped population” and “murder.” Jolie, who previously served as a special envoy to UNHCR, shared a photo on Instagram of a recent Israeli strike in the densely populated Strip and said “This is the deliberate bombing of a trapped population who have nowhere to flee.”
“Gaza has been an open-air prison for nearly two decades and is fast becoming a mass grave. 40% of those killed are innocent children. Whole families are being murdered,” she said. “While the world watches and with the active support of many governments, millions of Palestinian civilians – children, women, families – are being collectively punished and dehumanized, all while being deprived food, medicine and humanitarian aid against international law,” she added.
The call for ceasefire comes as US officials have been scrambling throughout the Mideast and have been stating they will not dictate how the Israelis carry out their military operations in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that killed 1400 Israelis. Meanwhile, the Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Hamas war has reached 8,805, according to the Hamas-run authorities. In the West Bank, 130 Palestinians have been killed in violence and Israeli raids.
Leaders from around the world have called for a ceasefire as Israel tries to eliminate Hamas’s infrastructure in the Strip following the October 7 killings in Israeli communities. US President Joe Biden said he thought there should be a humanitarian “pause” in the Israel-Hamas war, after his campaign speech Wednesday evening was interrupted by a protester calling for a cease-fire. “By refusing to demand a humanitarian ceasefire and blocking the UN Security Council from imposing one on both parties, world leaders are complicit in these crimes,” Jolie said in the post.
Jolie served as a Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) from 2001 to 2012 and as Special Envoy from 2012 to 2022. She stepped down from her role in December 2022 to engage on a broader set of humanitarian and human rights issues. However, she remains a passionate advocate for refugees and displaced people. During her time with UNHCR, she carried out more than 60 field missions to bear witness to the suffering of refugees and displaced people. She also used her platform to raise awareness of refugee issues and to advocate for their rights.
(With agency inputs)
