Washington, DC [US]: Pro-Palestinian protestors on Saturday held a demonstration in London, Berlin, and Rome to call for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Reuters reported.
At least 7,000 pro-Palestinian protesters held a march over the Brooklyn Bridge in the US’ New York on Saturday, New York Post reported.
The protesters holding banners, Palestinian flags and signs raised slogans like “Free Palestine.” The demonstrators held signs with slogans like “Stop Killing Children”, “Freedom for Palestine” and “Stop bombing Gaza,” according to visuals captured by Reuters.
One of the protesters in London said, “My fear is that there will be no more Palestine. At the moment, it’s not free Palestine, it’s save Palestine. That is my fear that they would be wiped off existence,” Reuters reported.
The three-mile Flood Brooklyn for Gaza march began at 3 pm (local time) in front of the Brooklyn Museum in Crown Height. During the march through the borough, the protesters openly cheered for Hamas’s terrorists’ attacks on Israel, New York Post reported.
Durion, a 24-year-old protester from Queens, said, “Freedom by any means, land back by any means.” He said, “I believe the settler state of Israel must be taken down,” New York Post reported.
The demonstrators held signs with slogans like “From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will be Free.” The protesters headed north along Flatbush Avenue to the Barclays Center and then converged on the Brooklyn Bridge, disrupting the traffic on the Manhattan-bound side around 6 pm (local time) as some of them scaled metal barriers and waved Palestinian flags.
Police personnel shut down traffic movement on the Brooklyn-bound side as a precautionary measure. Earlier, another protester Marie Edward accused Israelis of being the real “killers” and defended Hamas’s action on October 7.
One counter-protester carrying a US and Israeli flag shouted the slogan, “I stand with life, peace and love.” Marchers then called him a terrorist, according to New York Post report.
Prior to the rally, former City Councilman David Greenfield, a Brooklyn Democrat who now heads the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, slammed protests’ sponsors for holding an anti-Israel protest on Shabbat in Crown Heights, which has a sizable population of Hasidic Jews.
Notably, Israel launched a counter-offensive against Hamas after the latter launched an attack on the former on October 7. Israel has vowed to destroy the Hamas.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday said that the second stage of the war against Hamas started with the entrance of more ground forces into Gaza on Friday night, The Times of Israel reported.
He said that Israel’s goal is to “defeat the murderous enemy and to ensure our existence in our land. His statement comes after the Israel Defence Forces chief has said that the military is carrying out ground operations in the Gaza Strip at present which serve to achieve all the war’s objectives, The Times of Israel reported.
Netanyahu said that the soldiers are part of a legacy of Jewish warriors that he stressed goes back 3000 years. He said that they have one goal, “To defeat the murderous enemy, and to ensure our existence in our land.”
While addressing a press conference in Tel Aviv, he stressed that Israel’s war aims are clear
– “destruction of Hamas’s military and governing capabilities; and returning the hostages home.”He said that the decision to start the ground incursion was made unanimously by the war cabinet and the security cabinet, according to The Times of Israel report.
He stated, “Our commanders and soldiers fighting in enemy territory know that the nation and the national leadership stand behind them.” He said that the soldiers he has met in the field are determined to make Hamas pay for its actions on October 7.
