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."
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