How has Hamas responded? Hamas confirmed it had received a US proposal. The group put out a statement saying it welcomed “any initiative that helps in the efforts to stop the aggression against our people”. Hamas has repeatedly stuck to its own position: that the remaining Israeli captives held in Gaza be released in exchange for guarantees that Israel would stop its attacks and withdraw from Gaza. “We affirm our immediate readiness to sit at the negotiation table to discuss the release of all prisoners in exchange for a clear declaration to end the war, the full withdrawal from Gaza, and the formation of a committee to manage Gaza from Palestinian independents, who will immediately begin their work,” a Hamas statement obtained by the news outlet Drop Site News is reported to have said. Writing on Telegram, senior Hamas official Basem Naim said: “It is clear that the primary goal is to reach the refusal of the offer and not reach an agreement that leads to the end of the war.”

More than 1,300 artists, including some Hollywood A-listers, have promised not to work with Israeli film institutions complicit in abuses against Palestinians as Israel intensifies its war on Gaza.

In a pledge released on Monday, the artists – who include Olivia Colman, Ayo Edebiri, Mark Ruffalo, Riz Ahmed, Tilda Swinton and Javier Bardem – decried the “unrelenting horror” in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 64,000 Palestinians and flattened most of the territory.“Inspired by Filmmakers United Against Apartheid who refused to screen their films in apartheid South Africa, we pledge not to screen films, appear at or otherwise work with Israeli film institutions – including festivals, cinemas, broadcasters and production companies – that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people,” the statement read.

Examples of being complicit in Israeli rights violations include “whitewashing or justifying genocide and apartheid, and/or partnering with the government committing them”, it added.

The pledge cited International Court of Justice rulings that concluded a genocide charge against Israel is plausible and found the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal.

Over the 23 months of the Gaza war, leading academics, rights groups and United Nations experts have accused Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians.Palestinian rights advocates have long called for celebrities to use their reach and status to bring awareness to the plight of Palestinians.

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Mike Lerner, one of the signatories to the statement, said the pledge was a “non-violent tool” to undermine the impunity that Israel enjoys for its conduct against Palestinians.“It is the responsibility of every independently minded artist to use whatever powers of expression they possess to support the global resistance to overcome this horror,” Lerner said in a statement.

Hollywood has been historically pro-Israel, producing movies like the 1960 film Exodus, which valorised the founding of Israel, and regularly inserting positive references to the country in blockbusters.

But in recent years, many actors and directors have spoken out against Israel’s policies – sometimes to the detriment of their own careers.

For example, in 2023, actor Susan Sarandon, who signed Monday’s pledge, was dropped by her talent agency after attending a Palestine solidarity rally.

After the outbreak of the war in Gaza, Melissa Barrera, who also joined the boycott call, lost her role in the horror franchise Scream over social media posts critical of Israel.