Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in major cities around the world to condemn the Israeli military operations in Gaza as the war in the Palestinian territory nears the one-year mark.
In the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, more than 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the embassy of the United States, demanding that Washington, Israel’s top military supplier and ally, stop sending weapons to Israel.
“We are appealing to the hearts of all the leaders of the world to rise up and move and liberate them [Palestinians] from the oppression carried out by Israel,” a demonstrator told Al Jazeera.
“This is no longer a religious issue but truly a humanitarian issue – not just for Muslims but all who claim to be Muslim,” said another protester, holding his child on his shoulders and carrying a Palestinian flag.
In the Philippines, dozens of left-wing activists protested near the US embassy in Manila, where police prevented them from getting closer to the seaside compound.
In Cape Town in South Africa, hundreds walked to parliament, chanting: “Israel is a racist state!” and “We are all Palestinian!” Pro-Gaza marches were also planned Saturday in Johannesburg and Durban.
In Caracas, hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators protested outside the United Nations’s headquarters for Venezuela, carrying a giant Palestinian flag. They delivered a petition to the UN calling for an end to the “genocide” of the Palestinians.
The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023 when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing 1,139 people and taking more than 200 captive, according to Israeli authorities.
Israel’s subsequent military assault on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The war in the besieged enclave has displaced nearly all of its 2.3 million people, who have been subjected to widespread hunger and disease, leading to genocide allegations against Israel by several countries at the International Court of Justice.
Police attack Rome protesters
Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters in Italy’s capital Rome as their demonstration turned violent, officials said.
Several thousand demonstrated peacefully on Saturday afternoon, chanting “Free Palestine, Free Lebanon!” They waved Palestinian flags and held banners calling for an immediate stop to the conflict.
The rally had been calm until a smaller group tried to push the rally towards the centre of the city, despite a ban by local authorities who had refused to authorise protests, citing security concerns.
Some protesters, dressed in black and with their faces covered, threw stones, bottles and paper bombs at the police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons, eventually dispersing the crowd.
At least 30 law enforcement officers and three demonstrators were injured in the clashes, local media reported.
‘Paying lip service’
Some 40,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through central London on Saturday, one of its biggest rallies in a year.
“Unfortunately, in spite of all our goodwill, the Israeli government does not take any notice, and they just go ahead and continue their atrocities in Gaza, now also in Lebanon and in Yemen, and also probably in Iran,” Agnes Kory, a protester in London, told the Reuters news agency.
“And our government, our British government, unfortunately is just paying lip service and carries on supplying weapons to Israel,” she added.
In Dublin, several hundred people took to the streets, waving Palestinian flags and chanting: “Ceasefire now!”
In France, thousands of people marched in Paris, Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Strasbourg to express solidarity with the Palestinians.
Lebanese-French protester Houssam Houssein told Reuters in Paris he feared a “regional war, because there are tensions with Iran at the moment, and perhaps with Iraq and Yemen”.
“We really need to stop the war because it’s now become unbearable,” he added.
Reporting from the protest site at Paris’s Republique Plaza, Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler said demonstrators expressed frustration the war had been ongoing for more than a year and the “international community is simply not doing anything”.
“They feel that France isn’t doing enough to protect civilians and the people who are really suffering,” she said.
About 5,000 people joined a pro-Palestinian protest in Madrid, brandishing signs with messages such as “Boycott Israel!”
In Washington, more than 1,000 protesters demonstrated outside the White House on Saturday, demanding the US stop providing weapons and aid to Israel.
One man attempted to set himself on fire at the protest, succeeding in lighting his left arm ablaze before bystanders and police extinguished the flames, the AFP news agency reported.
In the northern German city of Hamburg, about 950 people staged a peaceful demonstration with many waving Palestinian and Lebanese flags or chanting “Stop the Genocide!” the DPA news agency reported, citing a police count.
A pro-Palestinian demonstration in the Swiss city of Basel drew several thousand people, the Keystone-ATS news agency reported.
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators also marched on the Israeli embassy in Athens, which was heavily guarded by riot police.
More rallies and candlelight vigils are planned Sunday in cities across Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Americas.