The Gaza humanitarian crisis loomed large at the Venice Film Festival closing ceremony as multiple winners called for an end to the Israeli military campaign in the Palestinian territory.

The situation there has been a hot button topic throughout the 82nd edition of the festival, which unfolded just six weeks shy of the second anniversary of the Hamas terror attacks on Southern Israel on October 7 2023, which killed 1,200 people and resulted in the taking of 251 hostages.

At least 61,000 people living in the Gaza Strip have died in Israel’s subsequent military campaign aimed at wiping out Hamas and recovering the hostages, while aid agencies have warned of a looming “a man-made” famine, with at least 132,000 children under five-years-old expected to suffer from acute malnutrition.

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