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Javier Bardem Accuses Israel of ‘Crimes Against Humanity,’ Condemns ‘Unconditional Support’ for Jewish State
Javier Bardem receives the Donostia award during the 72nd San Sebastian International Film Festival in San Sebastian, Spain, on September 20, 2024. Photo: OOLMedia via Reuters Connect
Oscar-winning Spanish actor Javier Bardem gave a lengthy speech decrying Israel’s military actions against the Hamas terrorist group in the Gaza Strip during a press conference at the San Sebastián International Film Festival (SSIFF) in Spain on Friday.
The “Dune: Part Two” star attended the SSIFF to accept his 2023 Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award on Friday night after he was unable to attend the festival last year because of the SAG-AFTRA strike in Hollywood. When asked at a press conference on Friday about politics and Israel, he began by saying in Spanish: “What is happening in Gaza is totally unacceptable, is terrible, is dehumanizing. I believe that the government of Israel is the most radical government in the history of Israel.”
The “No Country for Old Men” actor then accused Israel of “committing crimes again humanity [and] crimes in international law.” He said the “terrible and condemnable” terrorist attacks orchestrated by Hamas-led terrorists on Oct. 7 in Israel “do not justify the global massive punishment that the Palestinian people is suffering.”
“The impunity that the current Israeli government enjoys in its actions in Gaza and the West Bank has to change,” he said. “I think that countries like the United States, Germany, and England especially have to reconsider their logic of behavior and unconditional support when we see human rights crimes against international law such as prohibiting [the entry of] food, water, medicine, and electricity. As UNICEF says, [it] is a war against children and continues this trauma for generations. [We] cannot be impassive against that.”
“We are seeing that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, in an attempt to avoid going to prison due to the corruption accusations and because of how he hijacked the judicial system in Israel, is taking this aggression to levels that are already starting to affect the entire Middle East,” he also told reporters at the press conference.
Bardem — who has two children with his wife, actress Penelope Cruz – said he knows nothing he says will change anything about the situation in the Middle East. However, he thinks society “is beginning to understand that it is legitimate to criticize any government and it has nothing to do with, in this case, the false accusation of antisemitism.”
He stated that the world has a “moral and ethical right to denounce that which we consider unjust.” He also claimed that the current Israeli government under the helm of Netanyahu is an “ultra-nationalist, extreme right-wing” government that is not representative of the entire Jewish community or Israeli society.
“It is our responsibility, you as the media and I as a citizen, to observe and denounce those situations that we consider unacceptable, and to ask the International Criminal Court, the international justice of the United Nations, to condemn and judge those responsible. In this case, Netanyahu and Hamas,” he said. “To give unconditional support is nothing more than to give wings to the abuse of international and human law.”
After his statement, Bardem was given a round of applause from the journalists attending the press conference, Deadline reported.
The post Javier Bardem Accuses Israel of ‘Crimes Against Humanity,’ Condemns ‘Unconditional Support’ for Jewish State first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.