Bruno Mars’ sold-out concert in Israel canceled amid deadly conflict

Bruno Mars’ sold-out concert planned in Tel Aviv for Saturday night has been canceled amid the deadly conflict between Israeli forces and Hamas militants.

Concert promoter Live Nation Israel announced Saturday on Instagram that it had called off the event, which was set to take place at the celebrated Park HaYarkon near Tel Aviv.

“All ticket buyers for the show will receive an automatic refund to the credit card with which the purchase was made,” according to a translation of the Live Nation Israel post in Hebrew. “We stand with the residents of Israel, the IDF fighters and the security forces in these difficult moments.”

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Earlier in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the country was “at war” after a surprise early morning attack by Hamas militants, who fired thousands of rockets and dispatched fighters into Israeli towns from the Gaza Strip. An unknown number of Israeli soldiers and civilians were also captured and taken into Gaza.

The planned show was intended as the finale of Mars’ first concert tour to Israel. Local press accounts said fans traveled from across Israel to attend Mars’ first performance Wednesday night, which drew about 63,000 fans.

The concerts were part of the singer‘s 2023 tour, which includes upcoming stops in Hollywood, Fla., and Las Vegas.

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Israel’s national rescue service said at least 100 Israelis had been killed and hundreds more wounded, making the attack the deadliest in Israeli territory in years. At least 561 wounded people were being treated in Israeli hospitals, including 77 who were in critical condition, according to an Associated Press count based on public statements and calls to hospitals.

And at least 198 people in the Gaza Strip were killed in Israel’s counter-attack and at least 1,610 were wounded, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said.