Javier Bardem was no longer comfortable being silent on Gaza. The Spanish actor spoke out about the Israeli-Hamas conflict upon accepting an award at the San Sebastian Film Festival last week. In his nuanced remarks, Bardem condemned the Hamas attacks as well as the “massive punishment that the Palestinian population is enduring.
” He called for immediate cease-fire, Hamas’ release of hostages and for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Hamas leaders — some of whom are now dead — who ordered the Oct. 7 attacks to be judged by the International Criminal Court. In an interview with The Associated Press, Bardem explained why he chose to speak out.
“I believe that we can and must help bring peace. If we take a different approach, then we will get different results,” Bardem told the AP, speaking prior to Iran’s attack on Israel Tuesday. “The security and prosperity of Israel and the health and future of a free Palestine will only be possible through a culture of peace, coexistence and respect.
” Israel’s offensive has already killed over 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents and destroyed much of the impoverished territory. Palestinian militants are still holding some 110 hostages captured in the Oct.
7 attack that started the war, in which they killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Around a third of the 110 are already dead, according to Israeli authorities. .