Tens of thousands of protesters marched in France and the US on Saturday, calling for a ceasefire as Israel's army intensified its assault on the Gaza Strip.
Protesters joined a mass rally in Paris, defying a court ban issued on public order grounds. A large contingent of police blocked demonstrators in the centre of the capital.
The protest took place in reaction to Israel unleashing a bombing campaign after Hamas gunmen stormed across the Gaza border on October 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and seizing more than 220 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
The Hamas-controlled health ministry in Gaza said Israeli strikes had since killed 7,703 people, mainly civilians, with more than 3,500 of them children.
Among the protesters in Paris were elected officials, including a green MP and a far-left lawmaker.
"(The need for) a ceasefire is urgent, to stop killing women, children and men," said Elsa Toure, the deputy mayor of Corbeil-Essonnes, south of Paris.
La manifestation prend forme à Paris pour la Palestine malgré son interdiction. Plusieurs milliers de personnes arrivent. pic.twitter.com/WK8vG1LXNu
— Remy Buisine (@RemyBuisine) October 28, 2023
Demonstrator Samia Orosemane carried a sign with the words: "Where has our humanity gone?"
"It is not right that a ceasefire has not been called, that thousands of civilians are dying and no one is saying anything," she said.
"Disturbing public order"
"In the country of human rights, we are prevented from protesting," she said of the ban on the march.
An administrative court on Saturday upheld the ban, citing "the serious risk of disturbing public order" amid "heightened tensions linked to the events in the Gaza Strip with a rise in anti-Semitic acts in France".
There was a €135 fine for taking part. By the evening, police said they had made 21 arrests and issued more than 1,350 fines.
Demonstrators also took to the streets in other French cities.
Organisers said 4,000 marched in the southern city of Marseille, while police put the figure at 1,800.
New York demos
On Saturday as well, thousands of protesters poured onto the streets of Brooklyn, New York's largest district to voice their anger at Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Home to between 1.6 and two million Jews and hundreds of thousands of Muslims, New York has for the past three weeks been rocked by demonstrations, rallies and vigils in support of the Palestinians and Israel.
Left-wing American Jewish activists are also up in arms against Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.
Hundreds of people were arrested Friday when police broke up a large demonstration of mostly Jewish New Yorkers who had taken over the main hall of Manhattan's Grand Central station in protest at Israel's bombardment of Gaza.
(With newswires)
