Arab News | Shawn Mendes, Bella Hadid speak out on Gaza

DUBAI: Canadian singer Shawn Mendes and US Dutch Palestinian model Bella Hadid took to Instagram this week to call for support for Palestinians in Gaza.

Mendes opened his post, shared with his 68 million followers, with the words “FREE PALESTINE.”

“There is a genocide happening before our eyes. The senseless killing in Gaza must stop. The children and families in Palestine have suffered for far too long, and they need our help,” he wrote, before addressing other musicians directly: “My friends and fellow artists, I know it can feel scary to speak up; I feel it now as I type this … The more of us that use our voice, the closer we are to change.”

Hadid announced she had donated $50,000 to Tents of Hope’s Winter Tent Kits for Gaza, which she said would provide 100 families with a waterproof tent, blankets and mattresses.

“Winter has arrived in Gaza, and for hundreds of thousands of families, the only thing between them and the cold is a worn-out tent,” she wrote.

She said aid groups on the ground estimated that Gaza needed at least 300,000 tents.

“I’m not sharing this for the number. I’m sharing it because I believe that if enough of us act, the gap closes one family at a time,” she wrote, adding that $25 could buy a family a blanket and $250 a whole tent.

Her post was led by an illustration reading: “Gaza is flooding: 70,000+ tents destroyed.”

Hadid and Mendes both took part in the Artists for Aid benefit concert in Los Angeles in January. Organized by Sudanese-Canadian singer and poet Mustafa, the event was co-hosted by Hadid and Chilean American actor Pedro Pascal, with proceeds going to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund and the American Sudanese Physicians Association.

Mendes performed his 2018 track “Youth” with American singer Maggie Rogers at the concert. He first spoke about the war during a show at Lisbon’s MEO Arena in August 2025, when he told the audience he regretted not speaking out sooner.

“What’s been happening in Gaza has been absolutely breaking my heart,” he said.