Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke left the stage during a solo show in Melbourne on Wednesday night after being harassed by a pro-Palestinian protester in the crowd.

Footage from concertgoers showed a man in the crowd shouting at Yorke. Although it was difficult to hear his full comments, he said “the Israeli genocide in Gaza” and then referred to the death toll, saying that “half of them were children.”

Yorke replied, “Come here and say that.” Right here, come on. Get on the damn stage and say what you want to say. Don't look like a coward, come here and say it. Do you want to piss every night?”

Then the protester shouted: “How many dead children do you need to condemn the genocide in Gaza?”

Yorke replied, “Okay, do that, see you later,” and left the stage.

A few minutes later, he returned to perform his final song of the night: Radiohead's 1997 hit “Karma Police.”

The incident occurred towards the end of the concert at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, the second of two concerts in Melbourne as part of Yorke's Everything Tour, which played music from across his career, including solo material and songs by Radiohead and The Smile. He is scheduled to perform in the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House on Friday November 1st and Saturday November 2nd.

Yorke has previously criticized the pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and defended Radiohead's decision to perform in Israel.

Radiohead performed in Tel Aviv in 2017, defying a BDS-led boycott call against the country that included public criticism from figures such as British director Ken Loach. In a statement to . Just like we did in America. We don’t support Netanyahu any more than Trump, but we’re still playing in America.”

Radiohead has a long history with Israel, their early hit “Creep” first found success on Israeli radio, and the band has performed in the country throughout their career. But pressure on the band and its members to boycott Israel has grown over the past year.

In May, Radiohead and the Smile musician Jonny Greenwood was criticized for playing a gig in Tel Aviv with Israeli artist Dudu Tassa. The BDS movement accused him of “artwashing genocide”.

In a statement on his social media accounts, Greenwood, who is married to Israeli visual artist Sharona Katan and has previously collaborated with Israeli musicians, lamented “the silencing of this – or any other – artistic endeavor by Israeli Jews.”

“No art is as 'important' as stopping all the death and suffering around us,” he said. “How can that be? But doing nothing seems like the worse option. And silencing Israeli artists because they were born Jews in Israel does not seem to be a way to reach understanding between the two sides of this seemingly endless conflict.”