DUBAI: Lebanon and Kuwait have banned Israeli actress Gal Gadot’s upcoming movie “Death on the Nile” from hitting theaters this weekend due to political concerns, according to the Deadline.
Gadot served for two years in the Israeli military — a requirement of all citizens — before pursuing her modeling and acting careers.
Earlier this week, Kuwait’s Al-Qabas newspaper revealed that the decision was taken following demands on social media for the film to be banned.
Online platform users pointed to Gadot’s praise of the Israeli army and her criticism of the Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas during the 2014 war in Gaza. The fighting left 2,251 dead on the Palestinian side, the majority civilians, and 74 on the Israeli side, most of them soldiers.
Lebanon previously blocked the release of “Wonder Woman” in 2017 and its sequel “Wonder Woman 1984” in 2021, both of which starred Gadot.
“Death on the Nile,” directed by British filmmaker Kenneth Branagh, is currently showing in other countries in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The film’s story is one of the most famous works of the late British author Agatha Christie, dubbed the Queen of Crime.