U2 HAVE CONDEMNED the Israeli government for their actions in Gaza, as Bono admits to “circling the subject” of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the time since the 7 October attack.

In a series of lengthy statements posted to social media, the four members of the band individually set out their stances on the war raging within Gaza. 

“Everyone has long been horrified by what is unfolding in Gaza – but the blocking of humanitarian aid and now plans for a military takeover of Gaza City has taken the conflict into uncharted territory,” the post of their statements was captioned.

“We are not experts in the politics of the region, but we want our audience to know where we each stand.”

Bono’s statement, which covered ten slides, admitted that he had circled around the issue of speaking out on Israel’s actions in Gaza. Condemning the 7 October terror attack by Hamas on the Nova music festival in Gaza, he reiterated that he believes in Israel’s “right to exist” and a two-state solution.

In recent years, Bono has attracted heavy criticism over his silence on Gaza. Last year, he angered a number of his peers when he accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom from then-US President Joe Biden.

Actor and musician Steve Wall was among those who slammed Bono’s decision to accept the medal from Biden, who was the subject of opposition and derision over the US facilitating Israel’s war on Gaza.

Bono later went on to defend his decision in an interview with Brendan O’Connor on RTÉ Radio 1. He said that he had a longstanding relationship with Biden and had accepted the medal of behalf of activists and people being killed within Gaza.

In May, he called for Israel to be “released” from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu at an awards show.

Today, Bono wrote that he had felt he should focus on poverty and the humanitarian crisis occurring within Africa, and said that he felt countries like Sudan were overlooked in their suffering.

As Israel intensified its attack on Gaza, Bono said that he reminded himself of Hamas’s crimes that had preceded this. “I hoped Israel would return to reason,” he wrote. “I was making excuses for a people seared and shaped by the experience of the Holocaust… which understood the threat of extermination is not simply a fear but a fact.”

He said that he understands that “Hamas are not the Palestinian people”, who have undergone oppression, occupation, and “the systemic stealing of the land that is rightfully theirs”.

He added that he can see the parallels between the historic occupation of Ireland and the occupation of Gaza: “It’s little wonder so many here in Ireland have campaigned for decades for justice for the Palestinian people”.

The U2 frontman said that the band condemns Netanyahu’s Israel government. 

Shorter statements from the three other band members took the same stance.