From Washington, London, Paris to Rome, hundreds of thousands of people in major cities around the globe marched Saturday to demand an end to Israel's brutal military campaign in Gaza.
People in the U.S. capital converged opposite the White House and held aloft signs questioning President Joe Biden's viability as a presidential candidate because of his staunch support for Israel. Some of the signs read: "No votes for Genocide Joe," "Biden has blood on his hands" and "Let Gaza live."
Vendors were also selling South African flags as protesters chanted slogans in support of the country whose accusations of genocide against Israel prompted the International Court of Justice in the Hague, Netherlands, to take up the case.
Dan Devries, a New York resident said he attended the protest because he wants to see a free Gaza, but that he wouldn't vote for either Biden or possible Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
"I see this war as part of the U.S.' drive to offset its economic decline by engaging in continual war," said Devries.
Washington resident Phil Kline held up a sign calling for Pope Francis to excommunicate Biden.
"I know he's a devout Catholic. Maybe he will take this issue seriously when the pope removes him from the church. There's no justification for bombing civilians," Kline said.
The plight of children in the Gaza Strip was the focus of the latest London march, symbolized by the appearance of Little Amal, a 3.5-meter (11.5-foot) puppet originally meant to highlight the suffering of Syrian refugees.
The puppet had become a human rights emblem during an 8,000-kilometer (4,970-mile) journey from the Turkish-Syrian border to Manchester in July 2021.
Nearly two-thirds of the 23,843 people killed during Israel's campaign in Gaza have been women and children, according to the Gazan Health Ministry.
March organizers had said the Palestinian children would accompany Little Amal through the streets of central London.
"On Saturday Amal walks for those most vulnerable and for their bravery and resilience," said Amir Nizar Zuabi, artistic director of The Walk Productions.
"Amal is a child and a refugee and today in Gaza childhood is under attack, with an unfathomable number of children killed. Childhood itself is being targeted. That's why we walk."
The London march was one of several others being held in European cities including Paris, Rome, Milan and Dublin, where thousands also marched along the Irish capital's main thoroughfare to protest Israel's military operations in the Palestinian enclave.
Protesters waved Palestinian flags, held placards critical of the Irish, U.S. and Israeli governments and chanted, "Free, free Palestine.″
In Rome, hundreds of demonstrators descended on a boulevard near the famous Colosseum, with some carrying signs reading, "Stop Genocide."
Many hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Paris' Republic square to set off on a march calling for an immediate cease-fire, an end to the war, a lifting of the blockade on Gaza and to impose sanctions on Israel.
Marching protesters waved the Palestinian flag and held aloft placards and banners reading, "From Gaza to Paris. Resistance."
Hundreds of demonstrators also gathered in the Swedish capital Stockholm on Saturday to voice their support for Palestinians.
Demonstrators gathered in Odenplan, calling on Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza, declare an immediate cease-fire, and allow full entry of humanitarian aid materials into the besieged enclave.
They carried banners reading "Children are being killed in Gaza," "Stop the genocide," and "Palestine forever," as well as models of children killed during the intensified bombardment.
Protesters later marched to the Israeli Embassy while chanting slogans such as "Freedom for Palestine."
They also criticized Sweden and the U.S. for their support of Israel, accusing them of complicity in Israel's war crimes against Palestinians.
