Actor Hugh Bonneville has used a red carpet interview at the premiere of the final installment of Downton Abbey to call Israel's plan to occupy Gaza City "indefensible".
Last month the Israeli Government announced its plans to take control of the city, aiming to force Hamas to surrender and return all of the remaining hostages.
At the start of an interview with ITV News about the new film, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, Bonneville said: “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 went on, before adding: “Downton Abbey’s a lovely film and we’re going to celebrate 15 glorious years of it tonight.”
The reporter interviewing Bonneville was visibly taken aback when he made the comments, which met with both praise and criticism from fans.
This isn't the first time Bonneville has involved himself in the debate over Gaza. In 2010 he narrated Children of Gaza, a Dispatches film, following three children over the course of one year in the aftermath of an Israeli offensive.
In the first five minutes of the film, a child was filmed saying: "The Jews bulldozed everything."
And, in an interview withThe Independent in 2019, Bonneville seemingly alluded to the conflict when discussing his views on religion: “I’m genuinely a respecter of all faiths. I just wish they didn’t create wars, but they do. That’s a big downside.”
Israel's Gaza City plan lists five objectives: disarming Hamas, returning all hostages, demilitarising the Gaza Strip, taking security control of the territory and establishing "an alternative civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority".
The IDF has said it "will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones".
To get more Israel news, click here to sign up for our free Israel Briefing newsletter.