Fauda co-creator challenges Mark Ruffalo's genocide claim over Gaza

During a London event supporting the Tel Aviv University Trust, Avi Issacharoff, co-creator of the Netflix series Fauda, criticised actor Mark Ruffalo for describing Israel's conduct in Gaza as genocide. Issacharoff called the actor "a rare combination of stupid and ignorant" and argued that the term does not apply because Israel allows 600 trucks of food and supplies into Gaza each day and, according to his claim, more Palestinians have been born than killed during the conflict.

Issacharoff referenced figures released by the Israeli government after the October 2025 ceasefire, which said 600-800 aid and commercial trucks entered Gaza daily. Israeli officials have said the volume of food exceeds international benchmarks, while attributing ongoing shortages to Hamas, distribution failures, storage issues and theft. United Nations agencies, however, continue to report restrictions on humanitarian operations, delayed shipments and severe water insecurity for 90 percent of Gaza's population.

The claim that births have outnumbered deaths was not sourced by Issacharoff. UNICEF estimated roughly 20,000 births in the first 105 days of the war, while Gaza health authorities reported 71,803 Palestinian deaths by February 2026. Under the 1948 Genocide Convention, genocide requires specific prohibited acts committed with intent to destroy a protected group, a legal threshold that does not depend solely on population decline.

No international court has ruled that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. South Africa's case before the International Court of Justice remains pending, and Israel denies the accusation, stating its military actions target Hamas. An independent commission established by the U.N. Human Rights Council in September 2025 concluded that Israeli authorities had committed four of five genocidal acts and possessed the requisite intent, a finding Israel rejected as politically motivated. Amnesty International and other human-rights groups have issued similar assessments, while some governments and scholars argue that genocide has not been legally established.

Ruffalo's remarks were made amid his opposition to Paramount Skydance's proposed $111 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, which he linked to corporate support for Israel. Paramount accused Ruffalo of invoking antisemitic tropes, a charge he denied, saying criticism of Israeli policies or related corporations is not equivalent to criticism of Jewish people. The dispute has divided Hollywood, with nearly 1,000 entertainment figures signing a letter condemning Ruffalo's comments, while over 180 Jewish artists and scholars defended him. Representatives for both Ruffalo and Issacharoff did not immediately respond to further comment.