Dawn French APOLOGISES 'unreservedly' and takes down her video on Gaza crisis after relatives of Hamas victims accused her of a 'smug dismissal' of their suffering
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Actress Dawn French has 'unreservedly' apologised after she was accused by the relatives of the victims of Hamas of a 'smug dismissal' of their suffering.
The Vicar of Dibley star, 67, has taken down a video she published on social media in which she criticised Israel's continued war in Gaza.
She posted to X discussing her thoughts on the 'nuanced' situation, in which she dismissed reasons cited by some Israelis for the continued conflict with a simple 'no'.
French appeared to criticise supporters of Israel's actions amid the ongoing war against Hamas in which almost 55,000 Gazans, many of them women and children, have been killed.
Now she has apologised, saying she clumsily used a 'mocking tone' and her intention was never to dismiss the horror of what happened on October 7.
Heidi Bachram, who lost two of her husband's cousin's immediate family after Hamas militants invaded their kibbutz on October 7, previously accused French of appearing to 'minimise or dismiss the severity and horror inflicted that terrible day.'
It comes as the Israel Defence Forces was again accused of killing people at an aid centre in Gaza on Saturday, and the Israeli government confirmed the body of a hostage taken on October 7 has been recovered.
During the 40-second video posted earlier this week, French said: 'Complicated, no, but nuanced. But [the] bottom line is no.'
Describing reasons some Israelis give for continuing the war against the backdrop of much of the population being at risk of starvation due to an ongoing aid blockade by the predominantly Jewish nation, the British comedian said: 'Yeah, but you know they did a bad thing to us... and we want that land... and we have history… Those people aren't really even people, are they?'
While agreeing that the October 7 attacks were 'a bad thing', French followed each reason with the word 'no', implying Israel should halt its renewed offensive.
While the video has received widespread support from those against Israeli actions, Ms Bachram was amongst several prominent figures to rail against her statement and accused her of a 'smug dismissal' of Israeli victims.
In an emotional statement on X, Ms Bachram wrote: 'My husband's cousin Tsachi Idan was at home asleep when the terrorists invaded his kibbutz. The family hid in the safe room but there was no lock so he held it shut.
'The terrorists forced, at gunpoint, a local teenager to try to lure them out. When that did not work they fired at head height at the door.
'Tsachi's eldest daughter Ma'ayan was helping her father protect the family. The bullet hit her in the head and she died instantly.
'We know every detail of this horror because Hamas were live streaming and recording.
'They then held the family inside their home for five hours and it became their base of operations while they murdered and kidnapped dozens of civilians on the kibbutz.
'They marched Tsachi to Gaza covered in his child's blood. There he was held hostage for many months until at some point he was killed. His body was returned in February.'
She added: 'To describe this so glibly adds to a deep well of pain.'
Jewish Actress and playwright Tracy-Ann Oberman also said she was 'saddened' by the post.
'This mocking voice 'bad thing' of October 7 that Dawn (who I revere by the way) appears to be mocking involved the most horrific terrorist attack involving rape, sexual violence, burning alive child, mutilation and the taking of civilian hostages.
'Why would Dawn seem to deny that which has affected so many of us personally in the most painful way possible.
'I can mourn the horrors of the war in Gaza whilst also remembering the horrors of what started it. Is this how most of our industry feels now – Oct 7 was a 'little thing'? NO!'
Reacting to those who accused her of diminishing the horrors of October 7, French posted on X and said: 'I do not say 'a little thing' . In NO WAY do I support the atrocities of Oct 7th.
'Of course not. Appalling. Horrific. But starving innocent children is not the answer. NO is the answer to ALL of it Tracy.'
It comes as the Hamas-led health ministry said at least 95 Palestinians have been killed over the past 24 hours.
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli forces have killed at least six people in a shooting incident near a US-backed aid distribution centre in the territory's south.
Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said that at around 7:00 am (0400 GMT), 'six people were killed and several others wounded by the forces of the Israeli occupation near the Al-Alam roundabout' in southern Gaza's Rafah area.
Gazans have massed at Al-Alam almost daily since late May to collect humanitarian aid at a centre about one kilometre (0.6 miles) away, operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
Samir Abu Hadid, who was witnessed the shooting, said thousands of people had gathered near the roundabout.
'As soon as some people tried to advance towards the aid centre, the Israeli occupation forces opened fire from armoured vehicles stationed near the centre, firing into the air and then at civilians,' Abu Hadid said.
The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident, the latest deadly fire near the Al-Alam aid point.
The GHF began operations in late May as Israel partially eased a more than two-month blockade on the Gaza Strip.
The United Nations, which has refused to cooperate with the GHF over neutrality concerns, has warned that Gaza's entire population of more than two million people was at risk of starvation.
In the territory's north early Saturday, Bassal said seven people were killed in an Israeli strike that hit a house near Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz also said today that the IDF had recovered the body of a Thai hostage taken on October 7.
Nattapong Pinta's body was held by a Palestinian militant group called the Mujahedeen Brigades, and was recovered from the area of Rafah in southern Gaza, Katz said. His family in Thailand has been notified.
Pinta, an agricultural worker, was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz, a small Israeli community near the Gaza border where a quarter of the population was killed or taken hostage during the Hamas attack that triggered the devastating war in Gaza.
Israel's military said Pinta had been abducted alive and killed by his captors, who had also killed and taken to Gaza the bodies of two more Israeli-American hostages that were retrieved earlier this week.
Israel has been waging a military campaign in Gaza since Hamas' incursion on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
At least 20 of the remaining 55 hostages still held by Hamas are thought to be alive.
According to official Hamas figures, at least 54,772 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war.
The Israeli military issued an evacuation order on Friday for residents of parts of Gaza City ahead of an attack that 'will strike all areas from which rockets are launched'.
Israel has recently stepped up its campaign in Gaza in what it says is a renewed push to defeat Hamas amid growing international calls for a negotiated ceasefire.
MailOnline has contacted French for comment.
