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Hundreds of people have gathered on the steps of Sydney City Hall in the CBD for a pro-Palestinian rally calling for an end to the “Gaza genocide” on Wednesday night.
First, speeches were held before the assembled protesters marched down George Street.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: A pro-Palestinian rally marches outside Sydney City Hall.
The rally was organized by the Palestine Action Group on a landmark date, May 15, or what is called Nakba Day.
It marks what Palestinians call the destruction of Palestine in 1948 and is the same calendar date as the founding of the state of Israel.
The group used social media to spread awareness in the run-up to Wednesday night.
“Stand with us as we raise our voices against the injustice to the Palestinians and the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” the group said on social media.
“We need every voice, every heart and every hand to demand an end to the apartheid state.”
The protest attracted a large police presence to ensure that light rail passengers and other commuters were not affected.
Another protest will be held in Hyde Park on Saturday, where the group called for an end to the “genocide in Gaza” and “away from Rafah”.
Rafah is a city in the southernmost part of Gaza where more than a million Palestinians have sought refuge from fighting elsewhere.
Meanwhile, gunfire between Israel and fighters from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and smaller Palestinian factions intensified overnight and became some of the fiercest in months in both northern and southern Gaza, both sides said.
Israeli tanks reached the densely populated neighborhoods and narrow streets of the militant stronghold of Jabalia in the northeast, facing stiff resistance.
Residents said the army destroyed groups of homes there in areas it had not invaded before.
The armed wing of Islamic Jihad, a Hamas ally, said its fighters killed and wounded Israeli soldiers during fierce clashes in eastern Jabalia, the largest of eight refugee camps built in Gaza since the Arab-Israeli Middle East war of 1948
“The invaders are trying to destroy the camp. They bomb houses on their occupants. We know of many families who are locked in their homes,” said Abu Jehad, a resident of the camp who gave his nickname for fear of reprisals.
– With Reuters
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