Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi questioned by fans for not speaking for Palestinians

PARIS (Agencies): With the war on Gaza raging and Israeli forces indiscriminately killing Palestinian civilians, people across the globe are demanding prominent personalities to speak up about the humanitarian crises. The two latest people who have come under fire from their fans for not talking about Israel’s war on Hamas are famous footballers Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. The pair boasts a massive following of more than one billion combined just on Instagram — and if we add on their X, formerly known as Twitter, and Facebook following, it’s going to be huge. This is the reason why people want them to speak up for the Palestinians as they are fighting for their lives every day, with some newborns also dying due to Israeli attacks on hospitals. In photos on Instagram, Ronaldo congratulated his daughter on her birthday, although some fans wished him well, others told him to post on the ongoing war. “All of you are silent about the truth. Just imagine with me, if something happened to your daughter, you would burn the world for her. What about the children who did from bombing in Gaza?” asked a fan.

Other fans posted comments like “Free Palestine” and “Stop Israeli bombing, etc, asking Ronaldo to voice his concerns. On Messi’s latest Instagram post, people wrote the same kind of comments. One user wrote: “You do not have to Palestinian or Muslim to defend Palestine. You must be a human being. That is enough.” Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Hamas group on Oct. 7. The offensive has killed more than 11,100 Palestinians and left a massive trail of destruction across the blockaded territory, according to Palestinian authorities in the enclave. Israel has put its death toll at nearly 1,200, after revising it downwards.