Thousands of Cubans, led by President Miguel Diaz-Canel and other leaders of the communist-run island, marched in Havana to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The demonstrators, including some 250 Palestinian medical students living in Cuba, carried a large banner that read “Long live free Palestine”, while the president and his allies wore keffiyeh scarves – an emblem of Palestinian solidarity.

“We are here to support the just claim of the Palestinian people, for their sovereignty, their freedom … and against the genocidal crusade that Israel practices towards the Palestinian people,” said Michel Marino, a 20-year-old international relations student, at the event on Monday.

The march had been due to take place on October 7 to commemorate the first anniversary of Israel’s war on Gaza after a Hamas-led assault on southern Israel, but it was postponed due to Hurricane Milton, which lashed Cuba and Florida in the United States last week.

“For a whole year, our Gaza has not had a single day of calm, not a single day of peace and our people in the West Bank suffer daily aggression while the world remains paralysed and unable to stop this tragedy,” said Mohammed Suwan, a Palestinian student, as he addressed the participants.

In June, the Caribbean island joined a lawsuit filed by South Africa against Israel before the International Court of Justice over its military offensive in Gaza.