Gym-goers are being encouraged to cancel their memberships to PureGym as "Boycott PureGym" trends on X (Twitter).

‍

This comes after PureGym CEO, Humphrey Cobbold, spoke out in defence of Israel on BBC's Question Time.

‍

‍

Cobbold claimed to be "deeply concerned" about bombings directed at the Israel Defence Force in Gaza.

‍

Additionally, he said: "There should be an insistence on Israel providing safe harbour and doing everything that can be done and more than they’ve done in the past in order to look after the citizens of Gaza, who are not to blame."

‍

He also suggested that the UK "should not forget the origin and trigger" behind the heightened conflict, referring back to the Hamas attack which took place in October.

‍

When asked whether the British government should halt arms sales to Israel, Cobbold responded: "I certainly think any weapons that are required for defence and for the Iron Dome, I see no reason why we wouldn’t do that.

‍

"We saw horrendous attacks on Israel from Iran that were dealt with partly by British and American forces as well as we saw and I think defensive weapons should still be allowed to go through.

‍

"As I stand at the moment, I think we should support in general the Israeli government in being able to defend themselves. Remember Hamas is a prescribed terrorist organisation that has insisted on deciding to eradicate Jews and eradicate Israel and we’ve got to remember that when we deal with this.

"And that’s absolutely not the fault of the Palestinian people in general. They deserve more protection than they’re getting I agree with that but we must remember those facts."

‍

Cobbold's comments have provoked outrage amongst social media users, with many people calling for gymgoers to cancel their PureGym memberships in an attempt to boycott the company.

‍

‍