Gigi (left) and Bella Hadid backstage at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Photo: YouTube screenshot.

Supermodel Gigi Hadid appeared reluctant to condemn Hamas and noticeably avoided supporting Israel when she took to Instagram on Tuesday to speak out against the war raging in both Gaza and the Jewish state.

In her post, Hadid condemned the violence against innocent civilians while also saying she feels “deep empathy and heartbreak for the Palestinian struggle and life under occupation.”

“While I have hopes and dreams for Palestinians, none of them include the harm of a Jewish person,” Hadid — whose father, real estate mogul Mohamed Hadid, is of Jordanian-Palestinian descent — wrote in an Instagram post. “The terrorizing of innocent people is not in alignment with and does not do any good for the ‘Free Palestine’ movement. The idea that it does has fueled a painful, decades-long cycle of back & forth retaliation (which no innocent civilian, Palestinian or Israeli, deserves to be the casualty of).”

Gigi added that while there are “a lot of complex, personal, and valid feelings” surrounding the war between Israel and Hamas, “every human deserves basic rights, treatment, and security; no matter their nationality, religion, ethnicity or where they were born. I know my words will never be enough or heal the deep wounds of so many, but I pray for the safety of innocent lives, always.”

Hadid also called the war, which began on Saturday morning when Hamas launched a surprise invasion of Israel, an “unjustifiable tragedy” and shared her condolences with both Palestinians and Jews who have been affected by the violence.

The conflict began when Hamas infiltrated Israel by air, land, and sea in addition to rocket fire from Gaza, murdering over 1,000 Israelis — mostly civilians.

 

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A post shared by Gigi Hadid (@gigihadid)

Hadid and her younger sister, fellow model Bella Hadid, have a history of supporting the Palestinian cause. In 2021, Bella participated in a pro-Palestinian rally where she chanted “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — a slogan widely interpreted as a call for the destruction of Israel, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. She has shared anti-Israel posts on social media and received criticism for her online activity.

Bella has yet to comment on the current war in Israel, but her father shared Gigi’s Instagram post on his own page. On Wednesday, he also shared on Instagram Stories a video in which Palestinians are being descried as “the oppressed” and Israel is called the “oppressor.”

Earlier in the week, Mohamed wrote on Instagram that “Palestinian[s] did not invade Palestine. The Zionists did” and wrote “Free Palestine” in the caption of a video where Ukraine, as it continues to fight off a Russian invasion, is compared to Palestine. He also said: “To be clear I condemn the killing and hostage taking or abusing, torturing of civilians. Of Arabs Muslims, Jews, or Christians. And complete disapproval of the treatment of the occupation against the occupied.”

The Hadid’s father has also in the past shared posts on social media against Israel.