Boycott call More than 200 writers sign letter urging immediate halt to trade

Zadie Smith, Michael Rosen, Irvine Welsh and Jeanette Winterson are among more than 200 writers who have signed a letter calling for an "immediate and complete" boycott of Israel until the people of Gaza are given adequate food, water and aid.

- Ella Creamer

Hanif Kureishi, Brian Eno, Elif Shafak, George Monbiot, Ben Myers, Geoff Dyer and Sarah Hall also signed the letter, which advocates the cessation of all "trade, exchange and business" with Israel.

Hunger-related deaths in Gaza have risen to 197 since last week's alert from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification initiative that "the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out" in Gaza.

In early March Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza, preventing food, water and medical supplies from entering the territory.

In mid-May, after growing international pressure, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said shipments would restart. However, records from Cogat, the Israeli agency that controls aid shipments into Gaza, show that the quantity of aid reaching the territory in May and June fell well below subsistence levels.