We are deeply disturbed for the murder of Abu Akleh, says the letter, also signed by US musician Tom Morello and film directors Pedro Almodovar (Spain) and Ken Loach (Great Britain).

The attack by the heavily armed Israeli forces against the Palestinian mourners dismayed and horrified us even more, they affirmed.

Commenting about the issue, they denounced that during the funeral procession “soldiers beat and kicked mourners and pallbearers” outside a hospital located in East Jerusalem.

They asserted that the killing of Abu Akleh is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and an attack on journalism and freedom of speech, which may be a war crime.

Several governments imposed sanctions on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine while “they continue financing and protecting the Israeli occupation, as well as the severe human rights violations against the Palestinians,” they warned.

Mike Leigh, Tilda Swinton, Asif Kapadia, Miriam Margolyes, Carol Morley, Boots Riley, Jim Jarmusch, Steve Coogan, Naomi Klein, Hany Abu Assad and Peter Gabriel, among others, also signed the letter.

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