On September 3, 2025, the usually bustling storefronts of Lush in the United Kingdom stood still. The windows of all 104 shops in the UK and Ireland, along with the company’s factories and online operations, were emblazoned with stark posters reading “stop starving Gaza.” For one day, the cosmetics retailer halted its business, sacrificing a day of sales and tax contributions in a move the company called “closed in solidarity.” The message was clear: Lush wanted the British government to halt arms sales to Israel and to take urgent action to end what it described as “death and destruction” in Gaza.
This bold statement from Lush wasn’t just a business decision—it was a direct response to mounting warnings from humanitarian agencies that famine has overtaken the entire Gaza Strip. According to the BBC, Lush’s leadership acknowledged the financial hit from the closure but insisted the gesture was necessary. “We want the UK government to take action needed to bring an immediate stop to the death and destruction,” the company stated. They apologized to customers for any inconvenience but stressed that many of their patrons shared their concern about the crisis in Gaza.
Lush’s protest comes at a time when the humanitarian situation in Gaza is drawing renewed scrutiny, not only from international observers but also within Israel itself. The United Nations has reiterated that, under international humanitarian law, Israel must ensure access to food and medical supplies for the population of Gaza. Yet, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly denied that famine exists in the territory, attributing food shortages to the actions of aid groups and Hamas. This claim, however, has been debunked by numerous reports from aid workers and independent journalists on the ground.
The world’s leading authority on hunger, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, recently released a report finding that half a million people in Gaza are suffering from famine. The report called the crisis “entirely man-made.” Israel, for its part, dismissed these findings as “an outright lie.” Despite the official denials, the evidence of widespread hunger has become impossible to ignore.
Lush’s move is not an isolated act of protest. In Israel, the women’s fashion brand Comme Il Faut has also stepped into the fray, using its platform to address the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding just a short drive from Tel Aviv. According to JTA, Comme Il Faut launched a social media campaign featuring prominent Israeli chefs and restaurateurs holding empty pots, accompanied by the caption “Resist starvation” in Hebrew, English, and Arabic. The campaign, which appeared on the brand’s Instagram and Facebook accounts, was intended to draw attention to the suffering of civilians in Gaza.
Romi Kaminer Goldfainer, the director of Comme Il Faut, explained the motivation behind the campaign: “We thought, because of what’s going on in Gaza and the hunger in Gaza, to do this photo shoot with people from the food industry and chefs.” She described the difficulty of talking about food and fashion at a time when “there’s this terrible hunger, like in one hour away from Tel Aviv.” The campaign was inspired by an Israeli chef’s social media post expressing discomfort promoting their business while reports of starvation in Gaza circulated.
Comme Il Faut’s campaign featured a dozen Israeli chefs and restaurateurs, including Michal Levit, Tamar Cohen Tzedek, Avivit Priel Avichai, and Aviram Katz. In the captions, the participants wrote, “We can no longer stay silent in the face of the systematic starvation of the people of Gaza and the hostages among them.” They went on: “Our stomachs turn. From its depths, from the abysses of the soul, we cry out against the starvation of millions of innocent people and children, who are perishing and dying en masse.”
The campaign also saw Comme Il Faut collaborate with Parents Against Child Detention, an Israeli organization that raises awareness about the mass detention of Palestinian children. In a post about the campaign, the group declared, “Our protest against hunger is a protest on behalf of the children and girls, who have no voice in the public sphere. For us this is not a political question but a basic moral responsibility—no boy and girl should starve.” They added, “The voices that arise from the food community, from people and women whose lives are devoted to food and filling, echo our call: you must not comply with the reality of empty pots. We will continue to fight—until the pots are full.”
But the campaign was not without controversy. As JTA reports, social media erupted with criticism, with some accusing Comme Il Faut of aiding the enemy or unfairly blaming Israel for the crisis. Comments ranged from, “Tell it to Hamas. The food is at their place,” to, “The only ones who are starving are our kidnapped. Shame of a campaign.” Kaminer Goldfainer noted that the fear of backlash deterred some potential participants, with many chefs declining to join or withdrawing after initially agreeing.
This public backlash reflects the deep divisions within Israeli society over responsibility for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Some believe that such expressions of solidarity with Gazans undermine Israel’s position or ignore the suffering of Israeli hostages, while others argue that recognizing the plight of civilians is a moral imperative. The controversy also mirrors growing debate among Diaspora Jews and within international communities about how best to respond to the war’s fallout.
The campaigns by Lush and Comme Il Faut come as the death toll in Gaza continues to mount. According to Gaza’s health ministry, more than 63,000 people have died since Israel launched its military campaign in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack, which left about 1,200 people dead and 251 others taken hostage. The war, now nearing its two-year mark, has left Gaza’s infrastructure in ruins and its population facing what aid groups describe as “catastrophic” conditions.
Within Israel, there are signs of shifting attitudes. While the government maintains its hardline stance, Israeli news organizations have begun to report more frequently on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Anti-war protesters have incorporated images of Gazan civilians into their demonstrations, and some segments of the public have grown increasingly vocal in their calls for an end to the conflict.
As Lush hinted, further shop closures could follow in other markets as the company weighs how best to use its global reach to advocate for change. The decision to close shop for a day may seem minor in the grand scheme of things, but for many, it’s a symbol—a reminder that, even in times of war and division, the choices of individuals and businesses can send powerful messages. Whether these protests will influence government policy or change the course of the conflict remains to be seen, but they have certainly sparked conversations on the responsibilities of both nations and citizens in the face of human suffering.
In the end, the voices calling for solidarity—be they from a British soap company or Israeli chefs—underscore a simple, urgent plea: that no child, no civilian, should starve, and that the human cost of conflict must not be ignored.
