Members of Irish rock band U2 issued a strong critique of the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza on Sunday, while also condemning Hamas, in a detailed post shared on the group’s website and social media.
“The Government of Israel is not the nation of Israel, but the Government of Israel led by Benjamin Netanyahu today deserves our categorical and unequivocal condemnation,” frontman Bono wrote.
He criticised the blockade on humanitarian aid and Israel’s plans for a military takeover of Gaza City. “We know Hamas are using starvation as a weapon in the war, but now so too is Israel and I feel revulsion for the moral failure.”
Bono also condemned the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 – stressing that Hamas militants should not be equated with the Palestinian people, “who have for decades endured and continue to endure marginalisation, oppression, occupation and the systematic stealing of the land that is rightfully theirs”.
Bono and fellow bandmates Adam Clayton, David Evans who is known as The Edge, and Larry Mullen Jnr called for an immediate end to the fighting on both sides.