Pro-Palestine rallies take place in major European capitals

There have been rallies in major European capitals in support of Palestine and the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas which comes into force on Sunday morning.

The Hamas incursion into southern Israel in October 2023 sparked some of the most brutal fighting between the militant group and the IDF.

That attack saw 1,200 people killed and 250 others taken as hostages back to Gaza, where around 100 still remain.

15 months of war in Gaza has decimated the Strip and left more than 46,000 Palestinians dead, although health authorities don’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in the tally.

Many European protesters hope the ceasefire, which Israel maintains is temporary, will lead to a lasting peace.

France

Families of hostages held in Gaza gathered in Paris with French officials and Jewish groups, ahead of the expected release of captives.

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas goes into effect at 0730CET and 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Some of the relatives of the captives expressed concerns about the state of their loves ones.

“You can imagine that hostages were subject to torture, abuse, sexual violence, deprived of food, water, sanitation, sunlight for so long,” said Moshe Emilio Lavi, the brother-in-law of hostage Omri Miran.

Ayelet Samerano, the mother of Jonathan Samerano who died on 7 October during the Hamas attack on the Supernova music festival, spoke to the crowd and said it was important for her to support the other families, even though she “cannot be happy” because her son won’t return with the others.

“On the one side, I’m very happy that people are going back to their families and on the other side, my son won’t be back now. I’m very sad, I’m afraid,” she said.

Spain

Demonstrators and activists marched through Madrid in support of Palestinians just hours before the ceasefire is due to go into effect.

“We’ve been fighting for this for a long time, it’s not the first time that we’ve come to demonstrate. It’s a bit of a bittersweet feeling because it’s taken a long time to get an agreement, they’ve taken with them over 47,000 lives and the pain that’s been felt with that doesn’t heal,” said protester, Jazmine Alastair.

While some protesters held banners saying ‘Peace for and to the Earth’ and ‘Fair peace’, other protesters called for Spain’s government to boycott Israel.

“Gaza is wiped out, so I think this truce is fine, but it is not the solution,” said Abdalah Elbana.

Portugal

Several thousand people marched across Lisbon to protest against all wars and to call for peace.

The protest was organised by several trade unions and civil society groups.

Dozens of Palestinian flags could be seen among protesters who chanted for peace in the Middle East.

“We are the defenders of peace, we are the ones who mobilise for this cause to safeguard the present and the future of humanity. We will always say yes to peace and no to war,” said former MEP and protest organiser, Ilda Figueiredo.

United Kingdom

And in London, thousands of pro-Palestine protesters held a static rally in Whitehall after police curtailed their plans for a march past the BBC and near a synagogue.

Protesters held banners reading ‘Starmer has blood on his hands’, a reference to the UK’s support for the Israeli military operation in Gaza.

The Metropolitan Police said 77 people had been arrested during the day.

60 of those arrests were people who broke conditions agreed with authorities before the demonstration and broke through a police line to reach Trafalgar Square.