Pop star Justin Bieber quietly deleted an Instagram story on Wednesday that said “Praying for Israel” over an image of the Gaza Strip.
Gaza is currently under bombardment by Israel after Hamas carried out a large-scale attack against the country over the weekend and has seen numerous buildings leveled in the process.
Screenshots of the story from Bieber, who boasts more than 293 million followers on Instagram, have since been spread across social media.
Many criticized the image as tone-deaf and called on celebrities to stop weighing in.
“Justin Bieber posting ‘praying for Israel’ over an image of the destruction in Gaza. Unreal,” one user wrote.
Bieber appears to have caught on shortly after, leading him to delete the story and upload another with just the text.
Neither Bieber nor any of his representatives have since commented on the deleted story.
The Israel-Palestine conflict has led some to lash out at American stardom in general. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis also recently shared and deleted a post in support of Israel that featured an image of Palestinian children.
Gaza, home to 2.3 million people, has had its water and electricity shut down in response to the attack.
The attack by Hamas is said to have taken the lives of roughly 1,200 people, while Israel’s response has reportedly killed 1,000.
