Bruno Mars performed his first concert in Israel on Wednesday, October 4. He planned to return to Tel Aviv’s Park HaYarkon on Saturday, October 7. However, the ongoing Israel-Palistine conflict forced him to cancel the show.
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CNN reports that Hamas launched a surprise attack against Israel on Saturday. The Palestinian group fired thousands of rockets and sent fighters into Israeli towns. Militants managed to kill at least 250 people and wound nearly 1,500. As a result, Live Nation Israel made the call to cancel the concert. The ticketing company took to social media to make the announcement.
“Dear customers,” the translated Instagram post begins. “Bruno Mars concert scheduled to take place tonight is canceled. All ticket purchases to the show will receive an automatic refund to the credit card through which the purchase was made,” it continued. Then, the corporation concluded the post with a message of affirmation for the Israeli people. “We strengthen the residents of Israel, IDF fighters, and the security forces in these difficult moments.”
At this time, it does not look like Mars will be able to reschedule his concert in Israel. The Hamas attack Saturday led the Israeli Prime Minster to declare total war on Hamas. As a result, airstrikes began late Saturday night and, by all reports, continue into today.
The Associated Press reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the declaration of war in a televised address. “The enemy will pay an unprecedented price,“ the Prime Minister assured Israelis. He went on to promise that the country’s military would “return fire of a magnitude that the enemy has not known.” Then, he added that the war will “take time” and “be difficult.”
“All the places that Hamas hides in, operates from, we will turn them into ruins,” the Prime Minister added. “Get out of there now,” he warned Gaza residents. However, the AP report states that those residents “have no way to leave the tiny, overcrowded Mediterranean territory of 2.3 million people.”
Photo by Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive
