LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: NBA icon LeBron James condemned the Hamas attack in Israel in a statement released by him and his business partner Maverick Carter.
The statement read, "The devastation in Israel is tragic and unacceptable. The murder and violence against innocent people by Hamas is terrorism. The SpringHill Company (video production company owned by James and Carter) family sends our deepest condolences to Israel and the Jewish community."
"We pray for peace in the region and reiterate our continued commitment to fight hate in all its forms," he further wrote.
He concluded, "We all must work to ensure this tragedy does not spread even more hate, racism and antisemitism."
What is the situation in Israel?
Civilians in southern Israel faced surprise attacks by Hamas, a Palestinian militant organization, on October 7.
Hamas targeted kibbutzim as well as music festival attendees. According to IDF spokesperson Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, 1,200 people are reportedly known to have died so far as a result of the attacks.
It is believed that Hamas has also taken 150 hostages, which includes US citizens and is threatening to execute them if a ground invasion of Gaza is launched by Israel.
On October 11, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu further accused the Hamas militants of beheading soldiers and raping women, although his claims were not confirmed, reported the Daily Mail.
He also vowed to "crush and destroy" Hamas. On the same day, President Joe Biden stated that he had seen pictures of Hamas terrorists beheading children but the White House later admitted he had not seen such pictures.
Since the attacks, Israeli forces have bombarded Gaza with airstrikes and have blocked their supplies of fuel, food, water, and medicine. The health ministry of Gaza stated that 1,100 people have been killed and more than 5,300 are injured, per NBC.
According to the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency, 260,000 people have been displaced from Gaza as a result of Israeli bombardment.
Hamas launched more rockets into Israel on October 11, aimed at the southern town of Ashkelon.
President Biden has stated that the United States stood with Israel, and has called the Hamas attack "the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust," and a campaign of "pure cruelty."
Netizens React to LeBron James' Post
The NBA star faced heavy backlash on X for his post, as netizens flooded the thread with criticism and memes.
"Shame on you for mourning the death of the Jews and not caring about the thousands of Palestinians who were killed by them! Damn you and your false humanity," wrote one user.
A second user shared a meme which said "Sometimes it's not our turn to talk." Another meme stated, "LeBron has never read past the first page of a book."
A Peter Griffin meme had the caption, "imma need you to delete this bron" in response to James' tweet. "We dont care about your political opinions. Shut up and dribble," said a fifth person.
