Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse violent demonstrators in Rome as tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets in major European cities and around the globe on Saturday (October 5, 2024) to call for a cease-fire as the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel approached.

Huge rallies were held in several European cities, with gatherings expected to continue over the weekend and peak on Monday (October 7, 2024) the date of the anniversary.

In Rome, several thousands demonstrated peacefully on Saturday (October 5, 2024) afternoon until a smaller group tried to push the rally toward the center of the city, in spite of a ban by local authorities who refused to authorize protests, citing security concerns.

Some protesters, dressed in black and with their faces covered threw stones, bottles and paper bombs at the police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons, eventually dispersing the crowd. At least 30 law enforcement officers and three demonstrators were injured in the clashes, local media reported.

The rally in Rome had been calm earlier, with people chanting “Free Palestine, Free Lebanon,” waving Palestinian flags and holding banners calling for an immediate stop to the conflict.

Protest held in London, Germany, New York

In London, thousands marched through the capital to Downing Street amid a heavy police presence. The atmosphere was tense as pro-Palestinian protesters and counterdemonstrators, some holding Israeli flags, passed one another. Scuffles broke out as police officers pushed back activists trying to get past a cordon. At least 17 people were arrested on suspicion of public order offenses, supporting a proscribed organization and assault, London’s Metropolitan Police said.

In the northern German city of Hamburg, about 950 people staged a peaceful demonstration with many waving Palestinian and Lebanese flags or chanting “Stop the Genocide,” the DPA news agency reported, citing a count by police. Two smaller pro-Israeli counterdemonstrations took place without incident, it said.

Several thousands protesters gathered peacefully at Paris’ Republique Plaza in a show of solidarity with the Palestinian and Lebanese people. Many were waving Palestinian flags while holding posters reading ”stop the genocide,” “free Palestine,” and “hands off Lebanon.”

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators also gathered at New York’s Times Square to call for a cease-fire, chanting “Gaza!” to a drumbeat. Some wore keffiyeh scarfs, waved Palestinian and Lebanese flags and held a large cardboard image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with red paint symbolizing blood across his face.

Rallies were also planned in several other cities in the United States as well as in other parts of the world, including Denmark, Switzerland, South Africa and India. In the Philippines, dozens of left-wing activists protested near the U.S. Embassy in Manila, where police prevented them from getting closer to the seaside compound.

In Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched to the heavily guarded U.S. Embassy on Sunday. Authorities blocked roads leading to the embassy with razor wire and concrete barriers as more than 1,000 police were deployed around the compound.

Pro-Israeli demonstrations are expected to be held on Sunday (October 6, 2024) because Jews across the world are still observing Rosh Hashana, or the Jewish new year.

Demand of immediate cease-fire

Security forces in several countries warned of heightened levels of alert in major cities, amid concerns that the escalating conflict in the Middle East could inspire new terror attacks in Europe or that the protests could turn violent.

Pro-Palestinian protests calling for an immediate cease-fire have repeatedly taken place across Europe and around the globe in the past year and have often turned violent, with confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement officers.

Italian authorities believed that the timing of Saturday’s rally in Rome risked the October 7 attack being “glorified,” local media reported.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi also stressed that, ahead of the key anniversary, Europe is on high alert for potential terror attacks.

“This is not a normal situation. … We are already in a condition of maximum prevention,” he said.

Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in Britain, said he and others will keep organizing marches until action against Israel is taken.

“We need to be out on the streets in even bigger numbers to stop this carnage and stop Britain being drawn into it,” Jamal said.

In Berlin, a march is scheduled from the Brandenburg Gate to Bebelplatz on Sunday (October 6, 2024) . Local media reported that security forces have warned of potential overload because of the scale of protests. German authorities pointed to increasing antisemitic and violent incidents in recent days.

Earlier this week in France, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau warned the country’s regional prefects, expressing concern about possible tensions and saying that the terrorist threat was high.

About 3,000 people demonstrated within sight of the White House.

Amid a heavy police presence, the protesters gathered at Lafayette Park, the same site as 2020 protests against police brutality and the killing of George Floyd. “Resistance is justified when people are occupied!” they chanted.

One speaker on stage called October. 7, 2023, “the day that Gazans finally broke out of their prison.”

On October 7 last year, Hamas launched a surprise attack into Israel, killing 1,200 Israelis, taking 250 people hostage and setting off a war with Israel that has shattered much of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.

More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since then in Gaza, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between fighters and civilians.

Nearly 100 Israeli hostages remain in Gaza, with fewer than 70 believed to be alive. Israelis have experienced attacks — missiles from Iran and Hezbollah, explosive drones from Yemen, fatal shootings and stabbings — as the region braces for further escalation.

In late September, Israel shifted some of its focus to Hezbollah, which it seeks to push back from its border in parts of south Lebanon where the group is entrenched.

An Iranian military official with the Revolutionary Guards in Syria succumbed Thursday to injuries sustained in an Israeli strike on Damascus earlier this week, Iranian media said.

Military “adviser” Majid Divani “was injured in an air strike by Israel in Damascus three days ago” and died on Thursday, Tasnim news agency reported.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has announced several deaths among its ranks in recent Israeli strikes on Syria as well as Lebanon, has not confirmed Divani’s death.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor, Israeli strikes on Tuesday targeting the Damascus area killed at least six people, including three civilians and three pro-Iran fighters.

Since the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011, Israel has conducted numerous strikes in the country, primarily targeting army positions and Iran-backed fighters.

While Israeli authorities rarely comment on individual strikes in Syria, they have repeatedly vowed to stop Iran from expanding its presence in the region.

Tehran, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, maintains that it does not have combat troops in Syria, only officers who provide military advice and training.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory said in April that Iran had decreased its military presence in Syria following a series of strikes attributed to Israel.

One attack that month hit the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing seven Revolutionary Guards including two generals, and prompting Tehran to launch a barrage of missiles and drones in its first ever direct attack on Israel on April 13-14.

Iran this week launched a second attack on Israel with dozens of missiles after the killing of Tehran-aligned militant leaders.

Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday (September 23, 2024), killing 492 people, including 35 children and 58 women, as the Israeli military called on residents to immediately evacuate places where it claimed the Hezbollah militant group stores weapons.

Thousands of people fled southern Lebanon, jamming the main highway to Beirut in the biggest exodus since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war. More than 1,645 people were wounded in the strikes, the Health Ministry said, a staggering one-day toll for the country.

The Israeli military said it hit more than 1,600 targets on Monday (September 23) linked to Hezbollah weapons sites. It said it was expanding the operation to include areas of the Bekaa Valley, along Lebanon’s eastern border.

Residents of different villages in southern Lebanon posted photos on social media that they said showed their towns that were being struck.

The wave of airstrikes came after a day after Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets into northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa.

Hezbollah’s rockets were in response to an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb on Friday (September 20, 2024) that killed a top Hezbollah military commander and more than a dozen members, along with civilians including women and children.

Last week, thousands of communications devices, used mainly by Hezbollah members, exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000. Lebanon blamed the attacks on Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny its responsibility. — AP

A view shows smoke and fire on the Lebanese side of the border with Israel, after Israel said it had noted armed group Hezbollah preparing to attack Israel and had carried out pre-emptive strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, as seen from Tyre, southern Lebanon August 25.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Israeli military said its fighter jets attacked thousands of Hezbollah rocket launchers in south Lebanon on Sunday morning that were aimed at northern and central Israel.

“Approximately 100 IAF fighter jets … struck and destroyed thousands of Hezbollah rocket launcher barrels that were located and embedded in southern Lebanon,” the Military said in a statement.

“Most of these launchers were aimed toward northern Israel and some were aimed toward central Israel,” they added.

Israel PM says will ‘do everything’ to restore security in north

Israel’s Civil Aviation Authority announced on Sunday (August 25, 2024) the resumption of flights to and from the country’s main international airport after a brief suspension as the Israeli military struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

Operations at Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv resumed at 7:00 am (0400 GMT), spokesman Roy Steinmetz said, adding that “planes diverted to other airports will also take off from Ben Gurion again.”