F1: Alonso speaks out about atrocities unfolding in Israel

(GMM) Fernando Alonso has broken ranks to speak out about the devastating situation unfolding in Israel and Palestine.

With the world of Formula 1 not too far away in Qatar at the weekend, Hamas fired thousands of rockets into Israel and also launched a terrorist ground strike, involving the kidnapping, killing and butchering of Jews.

But the biggest single-day loss of Jewish life on earth since the Holocaust also triggered a furious response from the Israeli military, sparking sympathy but also anti-Semitic protests in support of the Palestinian people across the West.

Amid the complex story, F1 drivers have remained silent.

But the sport’s longest-serving and oldest current driver, Fernando Alonso, broke ranks with a social media post condemning the Hamas attack.

The Spaniard’s comments were apparently triggered by the news that dozens of Jewish babies were discovered dead and mutilated – and in some cases beheaded.

“Children deserve to grow up protected in a safe world,” Alonso, who is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, wrote.

The comments accompanied a Spanish-language UNICEF poster declaring that: “Nothing justifies the murder, mutilation or kidnapping of children, which constitute serious violations of their rights.”