One Direction star bombarded with death threats

One Direction star Zayn Malik has been bombarded with death threats by outraged Israelis after posting a #FreePalestine message on Twitter.

The 21-year-old, who was brought up a Muslim in Bradford, Yorkshire, shared the #FreePalestine hashtag earlier today to his 13 million followers, who retweeted it 140,000 times.

However, moments after the post appeared, Zayn began receiving messages telling him to "kill himself" and one even read: "Let me kill you".

Some fans said the comment would result in him losing a fanbase in Israel.

One wrote: "U have fans in #Israel. It broke me that one of my idols wand me to die @benwinstone @harry_styles @onedirection [sic]."

Zayn's mother Trisha Malik was born in Bradford to a white British working class family.

Her parents ran a pub in the city, but her life changed when she met and married a British Pakistani, Yasser, and converted to Islam.

She told the BBC in December last year: "I've always tried to learn as much as I can about my husband's religion and culture.

"I made sure the children went to the mosque. Zayn has read the Koran three times."

Trisha also worked as a halal chef in the kitchen of a local primary school, making meals for Muslim children.

Zayn, who is engaged to Little Mix singer Perrie Edwards, is not the first celebrity to wade into the conflict in Gaza.

Pop singer Rihanna posted a message only a few weeks ago to her 36.4million followers in support of Palestine.

The message was removed within eight minutes but it had already been retweeted thousands of times.

Shortly after she then tweeted: "Let's pray for peace and a swift end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict! Is there any hope?..."

Zayn's message will no doubt upset Syco boss Simon Cowell who donated £90,000 to the Friends of the Israel Defence Forces at a fundraiser last year.

Friends of the Israel Defence Forces (FIDF) was established in 1981 by a group of Holocaust survivors to provide for education and wellbeing of the men and women who serve in the Israel Defense Forces.

However, Cowell also faced backlash on Twitter at the time from Palestinian supporters.

- Daily Mail