AMMAN/CAIRO - Protesters from Jakarta to Tunis on Friday demanded an end to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza.
The Palestinian enclave has seen nearly two weeks of intense air and artillery strikes that the authorities there say have killed almost 4,400 people.
Israel is gearing up for a ground war in the tiny, crowded enclave aimed at eradicating Hamas.
Gunmen from the militant group rampaged into southern Israel on Oct 7. They killed 1,400 people and took around 200 hostages.
Some Western governments have voiced support for Israel's military campaign.
But many Muslim states have called for an immediate ceasefire.
Many people in those states have expressed solidarity with the Palestinians and anger at Israel’s bombing campaign.
Protests erupted across much of the Middle East late last Tuesday after the Gaza authorities said hundreds of people had been killed in a blast at a hospital.
Hamas said an Israeli air strike was responsible. Israel blamed a failed rocket launch by another Palestinian militant group.
In Jordan, which made peace with Israel in 1994, but where many of the population also hold Palestinian citizenship, more than 6,000 protesters marched in the centre of the capital Amman, while thousands more rallied near the Israeli embassy.
Some protesters voiced support for Hamas, urging it to attack Israel with rocket strikes and suicide bombings, and addressing the Palestinian group with the chant: “We are your army.”
Thousands of demonstrators also gathered in Turkey and Egypt – two other countries that have long had full diplomatic relations with Israel – demanding an end to the bombing.
About 2,000 people gathered in front of Istanbul’s Beyazit Mosque, burning an effigy of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and waving Palestinian flags. Some held placards that read: “Stop the genocide” and “Terrorist Israel”.
In Egypt, thousands of protesters stood at the Al-Azhar mosque, one of the oldest in the world, chanting, “Where is the Arab army?”, while others gathered at the central Tahrir Square.
Some demanded military action against Israel, and others said Arab states should consider using other methods to stop the bombardment of Gaza.
Egypt borders Gaza but has not been able to negotiate an opening of its crossing to allow in aid.
“Palestine is the only country that unites our voices. If the Gulf countries do not send aid, at least they should stop sending oil and gas. That’s the least they should do,” said protester Mohammed Gomaa in Cairo.
Burning flags and effigies
In Morocco, where the government agreed in 2020 to normalise ties with Israel in return for US recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara, Muslims and leftists said they would hold a sit-in later on Friday.
Hundreds of people marched in central Tunis, a smaller protest compared with other rallies there against Israel’s Gaza campaign in recent days. Others demonstrated in front of the US embassy.
“The real terrorism is Israel and America, which supports it,” said Mr Souhail Ben Nasser, a protester in the Tunis crowd.
In South-east Asia, hundreds of people gathered to protest near the US embassies in the Indonesian and Malaysian capitals, burning Israeli flags and stamping on pictures of Mr Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden.
“Today, we gather here with the same intention to condemn the criminal act by Israel,” said Mr Qilla Marisa, a protester in Kuala Lumpur.
Muslims in India staged smaller protests in Jaipur and Mumbai, holding up placards reading “Free Palestine”.
Israel’s biggest regional foe, Iran, and allied groups around the region also held state-sanctioned protests.
In Iraq, Shi’ite militias backed by Teheran mobilised hundreds of supporters in Baghdad near the bridge leading to the fortified Green Zone where the US embassy is located.
At Iraq’s border with Jordan, hundreds of supporters of Iran-backed paramilitary groups staged a sit-in to voice support for Gaza, brought in by bus.
“We are going to support our people in Palestine,” said one of them, 26-year-old Hussein Samir. REUTERS
