Gigi Hadid blasts Israel for keeping 'children as prisoners of war'

LOS ANGELES: Supermodel Gigi Hadid continues to make use of her huge platform to voice her support for Palestine amid the Palestine-Israel conflict.

On November 24, the supermodel took to her Instagram account to condemn Israel in a series of posts.

The 28-year-old star, whose father Mohamed Hadid is a Palestinian, put Israel on blast when commenting on the hostage exchange deal that was reached between Hamas and Israel, reports aceshowbiz.com.

The model talked about young Palestinian Ahmed Manasra, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia and depression. Ahmed was arrested in 2015 for stabbing and injuring two Israeli citizens in Pisgat Zeev.

"Israel is the only country in the world that keeps CHILDREN AS PRISONERS OF WAR. ABDUCTION. RAPE. HUMILIATION. TORTURE. MURDER OF PALESTINIANS. YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS. BEFORE Oct 7 2023," Gigi wrote in a now-deleted post.

Gigi also reshared a post claiming that "Israel authorities detain an average of 500 - 700 Palestinian children every year." The post added that the children were "beaten," "strip searched," "arrested at night" and "isolated in solitary confinement."

In the next slide, Gigi pointed out that "Israel is the ONLY country in the world that systematically prosecutes minors in military courts and accepts confessions obtained by coercion."

Not stopping there, the sister of Bella Hadid told her almost 80 million followers, "Israel sees any Palestinian as a 'terrorist,' any person supporting Palestinian rights as 'antisemite,' and any Jew that is opposed to the government's actions as 'self-hating' - even telling them to denounce their Judaism. So… everyone is lying and wrong, except Israel?! If it isn't evil and disturbing, it would be comedic."

Both Gigi and Bella are vocal supporters for Palestine amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle Eastern countries. Bella even said that her family got death threats for supporting Palestine, writing on Instagram, "I've been sent hundreds of death threats daily, my phone number has been leaked, and my family has felt to be in danger. But I cannot be silenced any longer. Fear is not an option. The people and children of Palestine, especially in Gaza, cannot afford our silence. We are not brave - they are."

In her statement, Bella added, "We need to keep pressure on our leaders, wherever we are, not to forget the urgent needs of the people of Gaza, and to ensure that innocent Palestinian civilians are not the forgotten casualties of this war."

She concluded, "I stand with humanity, knowing that peace and safety belong to us all."