Thousands of people in Muslim countries and beyond held demonstrations Friday in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
They called for an end to Israel’s blockade and airstrikes following a brutal incursion into southern Israel by fighters from the Hamas militant group that rules Gaza.
The Associated Press has not independently verified any of the claims or evidence released by the parties. More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians slain during Hamas’ deadly incursion. Roughly 200 others were abducted. The Israeli military said Thursday it had notified the families of 203 captives.Protests erupted in the main cities of the occupied West Bank on Friday following midday prayers. Palestinians streamed out of mosques and headed to Israeli military checkpoints in Ramallah, Hebron and Bethlehem, where they threw stones at troops and burned tires.
In a rare move, the Egyptian government approved and even helped organize 27 locations for protesters to gather on Friday. Since coming to power in 2013, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s government has outlawed large public protests. But pro-Palestinian protests broke out in undesignated areas too. While Egypt has functioning relations with both Israel and Hamas, the overwhelming majority of Egyptians harbor sympathy toward Palestinians and their desire for independence.
The Lebanese government and international community fear a ground invasion could expand the war into the cash-strapped country and elsewhere in the region.In Turkey, where the government has declared three days of mourning in solidarity with the victims of a blast at a Gaza hospital, thousands of people staged protests outside mosques following Friday prayers in Istanbul and in the capital, Ankara.
The pro-Iran coalition also called for a protest in Baghdad near the main gate of the highly fortified international zone, where the U.S. Embassy is located, to condemn its endorsement of Israel in the ongoing war with Hamas. All roads to the border were closed, and a few thousand people were allowed to demonstrate in the Naour area, between the capital, Amman, and the border.
“Israel is just a big bully, and they are cowards because they are targeting the children, the hospital. Those are helpless because they are denied all the basic things in life to survive, and yet they complained they are being bullied by Hamas,” said retiree Salwa Tamrin. Waving Indonesian and Palestinian flags and signs reading “We are proud to support Palestine,” more than 100 noisy demonstrators gathered along a major street in Jakarta that runs outside the embassy. Some burned portraits of President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. About 1,000 police were deployed around the embassy, the nearby presidential palace and the U.N. mission.
On the backs of each chair was a flyer featuring the name, age and photo of each missing person. On the table were candles, wine and loaves of challah, the braided bread typically eaten during the Friday night meal. The same flyers appeared on billboards elsewhere in downtown Rome.
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