Pro-Palestinian rallies held in Australia and across Europe as Gaza truce holds

SYDNEY (Reuters/AFP) – Tens of thousands of people joined a pro-Palestinian rally in the business district of Australia's most populous city, Sydney, on Sunday, organisers said, after a court this week blocked a move to hold the protest at the Sydney Opera House.

Pro-Palestinian protesters marched in several cities in Europe on Saturday, voicing cautious hope with a dose of scepticism as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza entered its second day.

Around 27 protests took place across Australia on Sunday, including in Melbourne and Sydney, said the organiser, the Palestine Action Group, which estimated a crowd of 30,000 at the Sydney rally. Police did not have a crowd estimate for the protest.

The rallies took place against the backdrop of Israeli troops pulling back under the first phase of a US-brokered agreement to end the war in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of people and left much of the enclave in ruins.

Amal Naser, an organiser of the Sydney rally, said "even if the ceasefire holds, Israel is still conducting a military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank".

"The occupation as well as systemic discrimination against Palestinians living in Israel constitute an Apartheid system," she said in a statement.

Australian Broadcasting Corp footage showed protesters, many carrying Palestinian flags and wearing keffiyeh scarves, marching on closed city streets. Police said no arrests were made.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for more than 200 Jewish organisations, condemned the protest organisers. "They want the deal to fail, which would mean the war would continue," co-chief executive Peter Wertheim said in a statement.

Pro-Palestinian protests have been common in Australia, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, since war in Gaza erupted on Oct. 7, 2023.

‘FREE PALESTINE’

In the latest weekend of such protests, demonstrators shouted "Free Palestine" and brandished Palestinian flags, with tens of thousands marching in London, some 5,500 turning out in Berlin and 500 gathering in Vienna.

Clashes erupted in Switzerland's Bern between police and protesters after some 2,000 held an unauthorised protest in the centre, with some black mask-clad demonstrators throwing fireworks and police responding with tear gas and water cannon.

In London, Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which has organised monthly pro-Palestinian rallies in London since the start of the war two years ago, said "We're... sharing the relief of the Palestinian people."

"But we also come here sharing their trepidation that this ceasefire will not hold," Jamal told AFP.

Despite concerns about President Donald Trump's proposed peace plan for Gaza -- calling for a transitional authority headed by the US leader -- Jamal said there was an "immense sense of relief".

A sea of red and green, the colours of the Palestinian flag, formed along the embankment of the River Thames in central London, where the largely peaceful march began.

Protesters donned black-and-white keffiyeh scarves, carrying signs of "Stop Starving Gaza" and "Stop the genocide", and chanting "Free Palestine" and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free".

A group of counter-protesters waving Israeli flags blared loud music as the main demonstration marched towards Whitehall. London police said a "small number of arrests" were made during scuffles between the two groups.

In Berlin, where some 60,000 people marched two weeks ago, the much smaller largely peaceful protest saw some accuse the German government -- a staunch Israel ally -- of "being on the wrong side of history".

'EYES ON GAZA'

The war in Gaza was sparked by Palestinian militant group Hamas's deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israel figures.

Israel's military response has killed at least 67,682 people, most of them civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, figures the UN considers reliable.

The conflict has sparked a humanitarian crisis and the UN has declared famine conditions in parts of Gaza.

"I'm here with my friends to help show that there is, continuously, eyes on Gaza, even considering the current ceasefire," said Katrina Scales, a 23-year-old sociology and psychology student.

She added a ceasefire was "not enough", and that she planned to keep attending marches.

Trade unionist Steve Headley, in his fifties, was also unconvinced.

"Hopefully now we've got the first steps towards peace, but we've been here before," Headley told AFP. He questioned Trump's "plans for a 'riviera' in Gaza" that the US president had touted earlier this year.

For 74-year-old Miranda Finch, part of a group marching under the banner of "descendants of Holocaust survivors against Gaza genocide", the ceasefire was "very little".

"The Palestinians are not going back to nothing. They're going back to less than nothing. Rubble on top of bodies, on top of sewage."

Fabio Capogreco, 42, who was attending his fifth demonstration with his two children and wife, said the ceasefire was "too little, too late", adding that those complicit in the war needed to be held accountable.

"Hopefully it's one of the last times we need to come here to manifest," said the bar manager. "But I think it's too early to say everything is ok."