BAGHDAD: Thousands of protesters poured onto the streets of several Middle East capitals Friday in support of Palestinians amid Zionist air strikes on Gaza in reprisal for a surprise Hamas attack.

“No to the occupation!” chanted demonstrators gathered in central Baghdad after leader Moqtada Sadr called for a protest “in support of Gaza” and against Zionist entity, an AFP journalist reported. “This rally is aimed at condemning what is happening in occupied Palestine, the bloodletting and the violation of rights,” said Abu Kayan, an organizer of the protest.

The besieged Gaza Strip has been under heavy Zionist bombardment since Saturday when Hamas fighters stormed Zionist entity’s southern border and killed more than 1,300 people. The Zionist entity strikes that followed have killed at least 1,799 people, also mostly civilians, in the Gaza Strip which has already been under a land, sea and air blockade for more than 15 years.

In Egypt, videos on social media showed hundreds of protesters near Cairo’s Al-Azhar mosque chanting in solidarity with Gaza. “Arab and Muslim countries have the duty and the responsibility to provide urgent humanitarian aid and help to the Palestinians of Gaza”, the university of Al-Azhar, the highest institution in Sunni Islam, said in a statement.

Anti-Zionist entity protests were also held in Iran on Friday. In the capital Tehran, demonstrators waved Iranian, Palestinian, and Lebanese Hezbollah flags and held banners reading “Down with Zionist entity”, an AFP journalist said.

Similar gatherings took place in other cities across Iran, where Zionist entity flags were burned. In Jordan, which has long had a peace treaty with neighboring Zionist entity, more than 20,000 people gathered in central Amman, near the Grand Husseini Mosque, following a call for protests from the Jordanian leftist and youth groups.

Masses of demonstrators filled the streets, waving Palestinian flags and chanting “the people want the liberation of Palestine”. One demonstrator exclaimed “it is (Palestinians’) right to defend their land and people”. Hundreds protested in other Jordanian cities. In Lebanon, supporters of Iran-backed Hezbollah rallied in the southern suburbs of Beirut in support of the Palestinians.

At the event, Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem, standing in front of a banner depicting Palestinian fighters and the Al-Aqsa mosque, with a Palestinian scarf on his shoulders, said Hezbollah is “fully prepared” to join its ally Hamas in the war. He said “when the time comes for action, we will take it,” referring to joining Hezbollah’s ally Hamas in the war against Zionist entity.

In Algiers, around 1,000 people went into the street to show solidarity with Palestinians. In France, where President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday called on Zionist entity to deal a “strong” but “just” response to the Hamas attack, the government issued a ban on “pro-Palestinian demonstrations because they are likely to generate disturbances to public order.”

Cries of “Free Palestine” rang out in New York on Friday, as thousands of protesters took to the streets to denounce Zionist bombings in the Gaza Strip. Calling for an end to “Zionist occupation” and the “liberation” of the Palestinian territories, protesters took up multiple blocks in a city that serves as a crossroads for religions and nationalities spanning the world. The largely youthful protest—which drew demonstrators of all origins, some sporting Palestinian flags and keffiyehs—accused Zionist entity of “genocide” and called for the US to withdraw support for its Middle Eastern ally.

Thousands of people rallied Saturday in London and other UK cities for pro-Palestinian protests, amid police warnings that anyone showing support for the Hamas could face arrest. Attendees, who marched through the heart of the British capital as well as Manchester in northern England, Edinburgh in Scotland and other cities, were shadowed by a heavy police presence. In London, demonstrators massed neared BBC News’ headquarters before an afternoon rally near Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s Downing Street office and residence. – AFP