Hugh Bonneville has used a TV interview at the Downton Abbey premiere to attack Israel‘s latest offensive in Gaza.
The 61-year-old actor was appearing live on ITV News to talk about the film when he surprised the presenters to wade into politics.
‘Before I talk about the fluff and loveliness of our wonderful film, what’s about to happen in Gaza City is indefensible, the international community must do more to bring it to an end,’ he said.
Lord John Mann, the government’s independent adviser on antisemitism, suggested Mr Bonneville should have also found time to mention the 48 hostages that remain in Hamas captivity.
‘We’ve got free speech, but I’m sure he’d also want to mention the hostages who’ve been imprisoned there for approaching two years,’ he told the Mail.
‘His support for the hostages would be very welcome – I look forward to hearing it.’
Mr Bonneville, who plays the Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey, quickly moved on to speak about the movie after his remarks on Gaza.
‘Downton Abbey’s a lovely film and we’re going to celebrate 15 glorious years of it tonight. It’s a grand finale, we had a great time making it and it’s a great love letter to the fans,’ he said.
Hugh Bonneville was appearing live on ITV News to talk about the film when he surprised the presenters to wade into politics
The 61-year-old actor described the situation in Gaza as ‘indefensible’
But the actor’s earlier intervention raised eyebrows in the ITV News studio, where a presenter said: ‘Of course it’s not about the politics, it’s all about the film.’
Israel is currently pressing ahead with the initial stages of its latest major offensive in famine-struck Gaza City.
Israelis took part in nationwide demonstrations to protest the call-up of 60,000 reserves for the expanded operation, which has proved deeply controversial.
The demonstrators accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of prolonging the fighting for political purposes instead of reaching a ceasefire deal with Hamas that would free hostages taken in the Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack that ignited the war.
Israel says that Gaza City – the largest Palestinian city in either the besieged strip or the occupied West Bank – remains a Hamas stronghold above what military officials claim is a vast, underground tunnel network, even after raids earlier in the war.
Israel has intensified air and ground assaults on the outskirts of Gaza City, particularly in western neighbourhoods where people are being driven to flee toward the coast, according to humanitarian groups that co-ordinate assistance for the displaced.
Site Management Cluster, one such group, said yesterday that families were trapped by the prohibitively high cost of moving, logistical hurdles and a lack of places to go.
‘Palestinians are also reluctant to move due to the fear of not being able to return or exhaustion from repeated displacement,’ it said.
Gaza’s health ministry reported on Tuesday that 63,633 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 2,300 seeking aid, since the war started October 7 2023, with a Hamas-led attack on Israel.
Part of the Hamas-run government but staffed by medical professionals, the ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count, but says women and children make up around half of the dead.
UN agencies and many independent experts consider the ministry’s figures to be the most reliable estimate of war casualties. Israel disputes them, but has not provided its own toll.
Also yesterday, the United Arab Emirates warned that any Israeli move to annex the occupied West Bank would be a ‘red line’, without specifying its possible impact on the landmark normalisation accord between the two countries.
The UAE was the driving force behind the 2020 Abraham Accords brokered by US President Donald Trump, in which it and three other Arab countries forged ties with Israel.
Mr Trump has said he hopes to expand the accords in his second term, potentially to include regional power Saudi Arabia.
Anwar Gargash, a senior Emirati diplomat, wrote on the social platform X that ‘annexation is a red line’.
