McDonald's Draws Ire for Offering Free Meals to Israeli Forces Amid Conflict

McDonald's faces heightened international scrutiny and calls for a boycott after announcing its support for Israeli forces through food donations amid ongoing tensions with Hamas.

According to WIONews, McDonald's posted an announcement on social media that, in the past few days, it has been giving away "tens of thousands of meals" across Israel as the war escalates.

McDonald's Support to Israeli Forces

The home of Big Mac wrote in Hebrew, "McDonald's donated and continues to donate tens of thousands of meals to IDF units, the police, hospitals, residents around the Strip and all rescue forces. We continue donating thousands of meals daily to our forces across the country."

McDonald's further said it has also granted a 50% discount to all soldiers and security forces who visit any of its restaurants. Aside from this, the company also opened five more locations to give food, aid, and donations to local security forces.

The chain said it is planning to hand out 4,000 meals every day. So far, it has already given away 12,000 meals to the Israel Defense Forces and residents in the nearby areas.

Donations Sparked Calls for a Boycott

Despite its good intentions, calls for the global boycott of McDonald's started to spread. This comes after several Arab countries criticized the restaurant chain's move to donate food to Israeli forces.

Hindustan Times reported that in Pakistan, people have started trending the hashtag #BoycottMcDonalds on social media. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf political party also posted a message asking Pakistanis if they would still choose to dine at McDonald's after what it did.

One of the country's students' rights networks also backed the boycott calls by writing, "In solidarity with the Palestinian cause, let's consider where we spend our support. Say no to companies like McDonald's providing free meals to the apartheid Israeli military."

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