demanding

Tens of thousands of people have marched in cities across Europe, denouncing Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and demanding tougher global action against its continued and deadly violations of a United States-brokered ceasefire.

The demonstrations, held to mark the United Nations International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on Saturday, came as the death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza surpassed 70,000 people.

The latest victims include two boys, aged eight and 10, who were killed in an Israeli drone attack on the town of Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

In the French capital, Paris, an estimated 50,000 marched along the city’s major streets, chanting “Gaza, Gaza, Paris is with you” and “From Paris to Gaza, resistance!”.

They also waved Palestinian flags while denouncing “Israeli genocide”.

“This is not acceptable. We are still so far from justice or accountability,” one protester told Al Jazeera.

“We, the people, know that this [Israel’s war] is wrong. But why do the people in power not feel that this is wrong?” asked another protester.

Anne Tuaillon, head of the France Palestine Solidarity Association (AFPS), one of about 80 non-government organisations, unions and parties behind the call to protest, said that “nothing has been resolved” seven weeks after a ceasefire took effect on October 10.

“The ceasefire is a smokescreen. Israel violates it every day, blocks humanitarian aid and continues to destroy homes and infrastructure in Gaza. We are calling for a permanent ceasefire and an end to the genocide,” she told the AFP news agency.

Protests were also held in London, Geneva, Rome and Lisbon.

Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego, reporting from Paris, said that for the organisers, the march represents a “sustained pressure” on Israel at a time when negotiations for a more lasting peace in the Palestinian territory remain stalled.

“This worldwide mobilisation is not just maintaining focus on Gaza, but also [on] the broader unresolved issue of Palestinian rights.”

In the British capital, London, organisers said that up to 100,000 joined the march demanding accountability for Israeli “crimes” against Palestinians and pleading for “protection” of those still suffering under siege despite a ceasefire.

In Italy, where mass demonstrations and union-led strikes have repeatedly mobilised against Israel’s war, the UN’s special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, and climate activist Greta Thunberg, attended the main demonstration in the capital, Rome.

The Wanted In Rome news website, in a report ahead of the rally, said some 100,000 were expected to take part.

In a statement posted on X, Albanese said that Israel is “committing genocide against the Palestinians” not just in Gaza, but in the occupied West Bank, too.

“Look at the totality of conduct/crimes against the totality of the Palestinians in the totality of the land slated for ethnic cleansing. Israel must be stopped, and we will,” she wrote.

Under the US-brokered ceasefire, Israel has pulled back to a so-called “yellow line” inside the Gaza Strip. But it remains in control of more than half of the besieged territory, and has launched several deadly attacks in breach of the agreement.

Since the ceasefire deal, at least 500 Israeli violations have been recorded, resulting in at least 347 Palestinians being killed and 889 being injured.

Fadi and Jumaa Tamer Abu Assi were aged eight and 10, respectively.

Alaa Abu Assi, an uncle of the two boys, said they were “innocent children who have no rockets and no bombs”.

“They were gathering firewood to help their disabled father, who has platinum plates in his legs. We went and found them in pieces, and we brought them back,” he told the AFP news agency.

In a statement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that “the killing of so many civilians, the repeated displacement of an entire population and the obstruction of humanitarian aid should never be acceptable”.

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Gaza City, said that even as Palestinians welcome the international support, most “are simply trying to survive”.

“It’s a daily struggle,” she said. “Palestinians are suffering to get their basic necessities; they’re suffering to find shelter.”

“There are lots of Palestinians still living in tents. They’re saying that they do not have any source of shelter. There’s no medication. Their children are without any education. The Palestinians are still dying slowly, despite the fact that it is ceasefire,” she added.

On Thursday, rights group Amnesty International warned that “Israeli authorities are still committing genocide” in Gaza, waging new attacks and curbing critical aid access, despite the declared ceasefire.

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Wednesday night signed into law legislation demanding that the Justice Department release all documents related to its investigation into sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

With little fanfare, the president announced the action in a lengthy social media post that attacked Democrats who have been linked to the late financier, a line of attack that he has often deployed while ignoring his and other Republicans’ ties to the scandal.

“Perhaps the truth about these Democrats and their associations with Jeffrey Epstein, will soon be revealed, but I HAVE JUST SIGNED THE BILL TO RELEASE THE EPSTEIN FILES!” Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform Truth Social.

Now the focus turns to Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi, whom the legislation compels to make available “all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials” in the Department of Justice’s possession no later than 30 days after the legislation becoming law.

The action on the bill marks a dramatic shift for Trump, who worked for months to thwart release of the Epstein files — until Sunday, when he reversed course under pressure from his party and called on Republican lawmakers to back the measure. Within days, the Senate and House overwhelmingly voted for the bill and sent it to Trump’s desk.

Although Trump has now signed the bill into law, his resistance to releasing the files has led to skepticism among some lawmakers on Capitol Hill who question whether the Justice Department may try to conceal information.

“The real test will be, will the Department of Justice release the files or will it all remain tied up in investigations?” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said at a news conference Tuesday before the House and Senate passed the bill. Greene was among a small group of GOP defectors who joined Democrats in forcing the legislation to the floor over Trump’s objections.

The legislation prohibits the attorney general from withholding, delaying or redacting the publication of “any record, document, communication, or investigative material on the basis of embarrassment, reputational harm, or political sensitivity, including to any government official, public figure, or foreign dignitary.”

Carve-outs in the bill could allow Trump and Bondi to withhold documents that include identifying information of victims or depictions of child sexual abuse materials.

The law also would allow them to conceal information that would “jeopardize an active federal investigation or ongoing prosecution, provided that such withholding is narrowly tailored and temporary.”

Trump directed the Justice Department last week to investigate Epstein’s links with major banks and several prominent Democrats, including former President Clinton.

Bondi abided, and appointed a top federal prosecutor to pursue the investigation with “urgency and integrity.” In July, the Justice Department determined after an extensive review that there was not enough evidence that “could predicate an investigation against uncharged third parties” in the Epstein case.

At a news conference Wednesday, Bondi said the department had opened another case into Epstein after “new information” emerged.

Bondi did not say how the new investigation could affect the release of the files.

Asked if the Epstein documents would be released within 30 days, as the law states, Bondi said her department would “follow the law.”

“We will continue to follow the law with maximum transparency while protecting victims,” Bondi said.

The US House of Representatives voted 427 to 1 to pass the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which if enacted will require the Department of Justice to release documents related to sexual offender Jeffrey Epstein. It still needs to pass the Senate and be signed by President Trump into law.

Hundreds of people have joined an Indigenous-led protest on the second day of the UN climate summit in the Brazilian city of Belem, highlighting tensions with the Brazilian government’s claim that the meeting is open to Indigenous voices.

Dozens of Indigenous protesters forced their way into the 30th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) on Tuesday evening after hundreds of people participated in a march to the venue.

“We can’t eat money,” said Gilmar, an Indigenous leader from the Tupinamba community near the lower reaches of the Tapajos River in Brazil, who uses only one name, referring to the emphasis on climate finance at many of the meetings during the ongoing summit.

“We want our lands free from agribusiness, oil exploration, illegal miners and illegal loggers.”

A spokesperson from the UN, which is responsible for security inside the venue, said in a statement that “a group of protesters breached security barriers at the main entrance to the COP, causing minor injuries to two security staff, and minor damage to the venue”.

The protest came as Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has highlighted Indigenous communities as key players in this year’s COP30 negotiations, even as several industries continue to further encroach on the Amazon rainforest during his presidency.

Lula told a leaders summit last week that participants at the COP30 would be “inspired by Indigenous peoples and traditional communities – for whom sustainability has always been synonymous with their way of life”.

However, Indigenous participants taking part in rolling protests in and around the climate change meeting say that more needs to be done, both by Lula’s left-leaning government at home and around the world.

A joint statement ahead of the summit from Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon Basin and all Biomes of Brazil emphasised the importance of protecting Indigenous territories in the Amazon.

As “a carbon sink of approximately 340 million tons” of carbon dioxide, the world’s largest rainforest, “represents one of the most effective mitigation and adaptation strategies”, the statement said.

The statement also called for Indigenous territories to be excluded from mining and other activities, including “in particular, the Amazon, Congo, and Borneo-Mekong-Southeast Asia basins”.

Leo Cerda, one of the organisers of the Yaku Mama protest flotilla, which arrived at the summit after sailing 3,000km (1,864 miles) down the Amazon river, told Al Jazeera that Indigenous peoples are trying to secure nature not just for themselves but for humanity.

“Most states want our resources, but they don’t want to guarantee the rights of Indigenous peoples,” Cerda said.

As the flotilla sailed towards COP30, Brazil’s state-run oil company, Petrobras, received a licence to begin exploratory offshore oil drilling near the mouth of the Amazon River.

“You cannot make climate policies without indigenous people at the negotiation table.”

This Indigenous activist flotilla just sailed the entire length of the Amazon River to take their message to the #COP30 climate conference. pic.twitter.com/55YjlZgJct

— AJ+ (@ajplus) November 11, 2025

Cerda also said it was important for Indigenous people to be present at the conference, considering the fossil fuel industry has also participated in the meetings for several decades.

According to The Guardian newspaper, some 5,350 fossil fuel lobbyists participated in UN climate summits over the past four years.

Representatives from 195 countries are participating in this year’s summit, with the notable absence of the United States. Under President Donald Trump, the US has fought against action on climate change, further cementing its role as the world’s largest historical emitter of fossil fuels.

Most recently, Trump has torpedoed negotiations to address emissions from the shipping industry.

Notably, this year’s meeting is the first to take place since the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), ruled that countries must meet their climate obligations and that failing to do so could violate international law.