‘It’s genocide’: Protesters slam Israel, support Palestinians

Protesters have marched across the world in support of Palestinians amid the worst Israeli-Palestinian violence since the 2014 Gaza war.

At least 140 Palestinians, including 39 children, have been killed after Israel launched air attacks on Gaza earlier this week.

On Saturday, Israel targeted a refugee camp in Gaza where at least 10 Palestinians were killed.

Protests took place in major cities around the world, including Doha, London, Paris and Madrid.

Iraq

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in cities across Iraq to stand in solidarity with Palestinians.

The demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and banners across five provinces in rallies called for by influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Protesters gathered in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and the southern provinces of Babylon, Dhi Qar, Diwanieh and Basra in a show of support.

Qatar

In Doha, thousands waved flags and displayed messages in solidarity with the Palestinians. “I am taking a stand against the genocide perpetrated by Israel in our country. We will do whatever it takes to free our country… Since we can’t be there in person, we are here at this protest today… I am very angry, very heartbroken by what is happening,”  Reem Alghoul,  a Palestinian living in Doha, told Al Jazeera.

France

Hundreds converged in the Barbes neighbourhood in the north of Paris amid a significant security presence of some 4,200 officers.

Paris police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the rally held despite a ban by authorities, who feared a flare-up of anti-Semitic violence during the worst violence between Israel and Hamas in years.

A handful of garbage bins were set on fire and rocks and other projectiles were hurled towards police, but no arrests were reported.

Spain

In Madrid, some 2,500 people, many of them young people wrapped in Palestinian flags, marched to the Puerta del Sol plaza in the city centre.

“This is not a war, it’s genocide,” they chanted.

“They are massacring us,” said Amira Sheikh-Ali, a 37-year-old of Palestinian origin.