"Friends, I'm in Israel right now," says Australian actor Nathaniel Buzolic ("The Vampire Diaries") and who became Israel's biggest supporter during the war, to his 3.3 million followers on Instagram. "One thing I want to say is that it's very easy for people to get on social media to post misinformation, hate and support a movement that has only one goal - of exterminating the nation. Despite all the hatred directed toward that nation - I decided to come. I decided to come here to show you and the rest of the world the truth and the reality of what exactly is happening here."
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On the first day of the Gaza war and following the brutal massacre committed by Hamas, Buzolic was quick to voice his opinion and his absolute support for Israel. The star of the successful television series distributed hard-to-watch videos documenting the abuse and cruelty of Hamas to civilians, and wrote: "These videos are very disturbing, I'm sorry that I have to share barbaric and violent content, but what's most important is that as many people as possible see it. The next time someone says they support the Palestinian movement, remember these videos, remember what they did, for the idea of freedom."
Buzolic's support has moved Israelis, and his fans in particular, and his posts have received thousands of shares. Among all the supportive responses, Buzolic had to deal with a lot of hate directed at him along with reports of his posts, which eventually led to his Instagram page being shut down for several days. "The supporters of Hamas reported my account in an effort to silence me. Why? Because what I say destroys their lies. You cannot fight the truth, you must silence it. And now they are proving that they are liars."
One of the videos posted by the actor was of the 6-year-old blond boy who was seen being bullied and beaten by Hamas operatives and Gazan children. Buzolic posted the video for his followers, saying: "You are watching this video of an Israeli child who was taken captive to Gaza and now he is being abused by Palestinian children. If you really wondered what the true face of the Palestinian movement is, today you have seen it. What is happening now in Israel is unprecedented, photos of old women being shot and killed by Palestinians at bus stops were exposed, women and children were kidnapped and dragged to Gaza, children were shot in their beds while sleeping, 400 Israelis were murdered, there are hundreds missing and thousands injured and many were taken as hostages and will serve as human shields for the Palestinians in Gaza."
In the hours after the star landed in Israel on Friday, he had the chance to experience two rounds of rocket barrages toward the center of the country, which reached an area in Tel Aviv where four people were injured from a direct hit on a building. Buzolic uploaded a photo from the scene and wrote: "Just landed in Tel Aviv, rocket attacks continue from Hamas out of Gaza, this building was hit in the heart of Tel Aviv 2 hours ago.
Follow @factsforpeace the world needs to know the truth and the real struggle that Israeli’s have had to endure. Hamas runs out of water but doesn’t run out of rockets. Let that sink in."