#Jennifer Garner, Adam Sandler, Yara Shahidi Express Sympathy for Innocent Victims in Israel-Hamas War: “People Are Not Their Government”

Jennifer Garner, Adam Sandler, Yara Shahidi and more celebrities shared heartfelt messages for innocent victims of the Israel–Hamas War amid increased violence taking place along the Gaza border since Saturday.

The messages poured in as media reports noted that a former leader of Hamas called on supporters of the Palestinian terrorist group to take to the streets for a “Day of Rage.” Following the reports, SAG-AFTRA canceled its Friday pickets planned for New York City and Los Angeles, citing “potential safety concerns that are unrelated to our ongoing strike.”

On Thursday, 700 major Hollywood figures signed an open letter in support of Israel, created by nonprofit Creative Community for Peace, condemning the attacks and requesting the return of hostages. Gal Gadot, Jerry Seinfeld, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Pine, Mayim Bialik, Liev Schreiber, Amy Schumer and Michael Douglas were among the celebrities and execs who signed the letter.

Garner posted a lengthy message Friday morning on her Instagram, where she focused on the children being affected by the Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, which she said is “unbearable to see.”

“And yet we must bear witness,” she wrote. “We must stand with every mother and father holding their children in this darkness and pray for every parent separate from or, God forbid, unable to hold their child. The human toll of innocent Israeli and innocent Palestinian people is unthinkable to imagine and we know — children will be the most impacted.”

Sandler kept his message short but shared that he was “heartbroken by the horrendous attacks on Israel” and sent his love and sympathy to the families of the victims. “I pray for peace and the safety of innocent Israelis and Palestinians everywhere,” he concluded.

Shahidi began her message by explaining that it may seem like people have limited ability and impact from behind a screen, posting on social media, but that “our belief in the sanctity of human life remains clear.”

“We sit in deep sadness at the leveraging of violence and displacement – both sporadic and systemic – to strip people’s right to peace and we hope that we all use our voices and spaces to pursue a radical love that can hold all truths- the truth that a people are not their government,” she wrote. “The truth that a people are not their regime. The truth of the terrible loss, of the lingering fear, of rejecting violence, of running towards peace and dismantling the governments and regimes that seek to use human bodies, lives and livelihoods as sites of domination and power.”