Bono paid tribute to the “beautiful children” killed at an Israeli music festival at the weekend amid brutal conflict in Palestine.
The singer and activist, 63, joined his U2 bandmates for their final show in Las Vegas at the Sphere on Monday night, where he showed his support for those affected by the war.
On Saturday, Hamas fighters attacked 3,500 participants of the event. So far, the bodies of 260 festival goers have been found in Kibbutz Reim.
During a U2 show, Bono changed the lyrics to the band’s 1984 hit Pride (In the Name of Love) to refer to those killed by Hamas fighters as ‘Stars of David’.
Before the song began, Bono said, “In light of what happened in Israel and Gaza, a song about nonviolence seems a little ridiculous, even ridiculous, but our prayers have always been for peace and for nonviolence.”
Kind: Bono pays tribute to ‘beautiful children’ killed at Israeli music festival over weekend amid brutal conflict in Palestine
Peace: The singer and activist, 63, joined his U2 bandmates for their final show in Las Vegas at the Sphere on Monday night to show his support for those affected by the war
“But our hearts and our anger, you know where it’s directed.” So sing with us… and those beautiful children at that music festival.’
During the instrumental, Bono added: “Sing for our brothers and sisters – who themselves sang at the Supernova Sukkot festival in Israel.”
“We sing for them.” Our people, our people, music people. Playful, experimental people. Our kind of people. We sing for them.’
Bono then changed the lyrics as he sang, “Early morning, October 7th, the sun is rising in the desert sky. Stars of David, they took your life, but they couldn’t take your pride.’
The original lyrics of the song, which is dedicated to American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., read: “Early on the morning of April 4, a shot rings out in the Memphis sky. Free at last, they took your life, they couldn’t take your pride.’
On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he intends to destroy Hamas as he avenges the Palestinian militant group’s deadly surprise attacks this weekend that killed hundreds of Israelis.
Netanyahu, who first came to power in Israel in 1996 and has served three separate terms, compared Hamas to the Islamic State group and said Israel planned to deploy “unprecedented force” that would “resonate for generations.”
“We have only just begun to strike at Hamas,” Netanyahu, 73, said in a nationally televised address late last night.
Horrific: Hamas fighters attacked 3,500 revelers at the event on Saturday. So far, the bodies of 260 festival goers have been found in Kibbutz Reim
Edited: During a U2 show, Bono changed the lyrics to the band’s 1984 hit Pride (In the Name of Love) to refer to those killed by Hamas fighters as ‘Stars of David’
Lyrics: Before the song began, Bono said: ‘In light of what has happened in Israel and Gaza, a song about non-violence seems a bit funny, even ridiculous, but our prayers have always been for peace and for non-violence.’
“What we do to our enemies in the coming days will reverberate with them for generations.”
“Hamas terrorists tied up, burned and executed children. They are savages. Hamas is ISIS,” Netanyahu concluded.
Thousands of Hamas targets have been wiped out in brutal aerial bombardment campaigns, Israeli defense officials have claimed, but harrowing footage circulating on social media shows rockets and bombs also destroyed Palestinian apartment blocks, killing hundreds of civilians.
Army spokesman Richard Hecht told reporters on Tuesday that the bodies of about 1,500 Hamas militants were found around the Gaza border after the strike, adding that security forces had “more or less regained control of the border” with Gaza.
Israel also ordered a “total siege” of Gaza, cutting off electricity, fuel and food to 2.3 million Palestinians, most of whom were already living in abject poverty.
The four-day war has already claimed at least 1,600 lives, as Israel saw firefights on the streets of its cities for the first time in decades, and Gaza neighborhoods were reduced to rubble.
In response to the rampant aerial bombardment of Gaza, Hamas warned late last night that it would begin executing captured Israeli civilians.
“Any targeting of our people without warning will be met with the execution of one of the civilian hostages,” Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said in a statement.
Hamas militants kidnapped up to 150 people, including women and children, from Israeli territory and dragged them back to Gaza amid their merciless slaughter.
“We have decided to put an end to this and henceforth declare that any targeting of our people in their homes without prior warning will unfortunately be met with the execution of one of the civilian hostages we are holding,” Abu Obaida, a spokesman for the Al-Qassam Brigades, which later added in a clip released to Al Jazeera.
On Tuesday morning, air raid sirens sounded in cities across Israel, suggesting that Hamas had launched another volley of rockets.
Israel and Hamas have had repeated clashes in recent years, often caused by tensions over the Jerusalem holy site.
Support: During the instrumental Bono added: ‘Sing for our brothers and sisters – who themselves sang at the Supernova Sukkot festival in Israel’
Violence: Image of a fireball erupts from an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City on October 9
Shock: Hamas militants abducted up to 150 people, including women and children, from Israeli territory and dragged them back to Gaza amid their merciless slaughter
But this time the context became more explosive.
A surprise attack by Hamas over the weekend left the death toll unprecedented since the 1973 war with Egypt and Syria, prompting calls for Israel to crush Hamas at any cost rather than continue trying to shut it down in Gaza.
Israel is governed by its most hard-line government ever, dominated by ministers who adamantly reject Palestinian statehood.
Hamas, for its part, says it is ready for a long battle to end the Israeli occupation, which it says is no longer tolerable. Desperation has grown among Palestinians, many of whom see nothing to lose under endless Israeli control and increasing looting of settlers in the West Bank, the blockade of Gaza and what they see as world apathy.
Bono pays tribute to the ‘beautiful kids’ killed at Israeli music festival amid brutal Palestine conflict as U2 change lyrics to Pride to honour those killed during Las Vegas show
