PARIS (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters took to the streets in several major cities around the world on Saturday to demand an end to bloodshed in Gaza, as the conflict in the Palestinian enclave approaches its one-year anniversary and extends to the entire region.
Some 40,000 pro-Palestinian protesters marched through central London, while thousands also gathered in Paris, Rome, Manila and Cape Town.
The war was triggered when the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023 in a raid that killed 1,200 people and in which about 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli counts.
Israel’s subsequent attack on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and displaced nearly the enclave’s entire population of 2.3 million.
“Unfortunately, despite all our good will, the Israeli government does not listen and simply goes ahead and continues its atrocities in Gaza, now also in Lebanon and in Yemen, and probably in Iran as well,” said protester Agmes. Koury in London.
“And our government, our British government, unfortunately pays lip service and continues to supply arms to Israel,” he added.
In Berlin, supporters of Israel protested against rising anti-Semitism and clashes broke out between police and pro-Palestinian counter-protesters.
Over the past year, the magnitude of the carnage and destruction in Gaza has sparked some of the largest global protests in years, in a wave of anger that Israel advocates say has created an anti-Semitic climate in which protesters question Israel’s right to exist as a country. nation.
The war in Gaza has spread to the region, drawing in Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq. Israel has sharply escalated a campaign against the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah in recent weeks and Iran launched a barrage of missiles at Israel this week.
In Paris, Lebanese-French protester Houssam Houssein said:
“We fear a regional war, because at the moment there are tensions with Iran, and perhaps with Iraq and Yemen.”
“We really need to stop the war because now it has become unbearable,” he added.
In Rome, around 6,000 protesters waved Palestinian and Lebanese flags, defying a ban on marching in the city center ahead of the Oct. 7 anniversary.
While its allies, such as the United States, support Israel’s right to defend itself, Israel has faced widespread international condemnation for its actions in Gaza and now its bombing of Lebanon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted criticism and argued that his government is acting to defend the country from a repeat of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
US-led international diplomacy has so far failed to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Hamas wants a deal to end the war, while Israel says the fighting can only end when Hamas is eradicated.
In Manila, activists clashed with riot police after they were prevented from holding a demonstration outside the US embassy in the Philippine capital to protest the US supply of weapons to Israel.
Demonstrations to mark the first anniversary were due to take place later on Saturday in other cities around the world, including the United States and Chile. Some demonstrations in support of Israel are also planned over the weekend.