Thousands of protesters took to the streets in several major cities around the world this Saturday (5) to demand an end to the war in Gaza, as the conflict in the Palestinian enclave approaches its first anniversary and spreads throughout the region.
Around 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 an attack that killed 1,200 people and in which around 250 were taken hostage, according to Israeli counts.
Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza 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 goodwill, the Israeli government does not care and continues its atrocities in Gaza, now also in Lebanon and Yemen, and probably also in Iran,” said protester Agnes Kory in London.
“And our government, our British government, unfortunately continues to supply weapons to Israel,” he added.
In Berlin, Israel supporters protested against rising anti-Semitism and scuffles broke out between police and pro-Palestinian protesters.
Over the past year, the scale of killing and destruction in Gaza has drawn some of the largest global protests in years, in a wave of anger that Israel’s supporters say has created an anti-Semitic climate in which protesters question Israel’s right to exist as a nation. .
The war in Gaza has spread across the region, attracting Iranian-backed groups in Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq. Israel has stepped up 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 Houssam Houssein said: “We fear 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 now it has become unbearable,” he added.
In Rome, around 6,000 protesters carried Palestinian and Lebanese flags, defying a ban on marches in the city center ahead of the October 7 anniversary. The protests were carried out by a group of people in the capital, Rome.
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 the bombing of Lebanon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has resisted the criticism and argued that his government is acting to defend the country from a repeat of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.
International diplomacy led by the United States has so far failed to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Hamas wants a deal that ends the war, while Israel says the fighting can only end when Hamas is eradicated.
In Manila, activists clashed with police after they were prevented from holding a demonstration in front of the US embassy in the Philippine capital to protest US arms supplies to Israel.
Demonstrations to mark the first anniversary take place this Saturday (5) in other cities around the world, including the United States and Chile. Some demonstrations in support of Israel are also planned for the weekend.
This content was originally published in Anniversary of the war in Gaza attracts thousands of protesters around the world on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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