SYDNEY: Tens of thousands of demonstrators braved pouring rain to march across Sydney’s iconic Harbor Bridge on Sunday calling for peace and aid deliveries in the war-torn Gaza Strip, where a humanitarian crisis has been worsening.
Nearly two years into a war that Palestinian authorities say has killed more than 60,000 people in Gaza, governments and humanitarian organizations say a shortage of food is leading to widespread starvation.
Some of those attending the march, called by its organizers the ‘March for Humanity’, carried pots and pans as symbols of the hunger.
“Enough is enough,” said Doug, a man in his 60s with a shock of white hair. “When people from all over the world gather together and speak up, then evil can be overcome.”
Marchers ranged from the elderly to families with young children. Among them was Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Many carried umbrellas. Some waved Palestinian flags and chanted “We are all Palestinians.”
New South Wales police said up to 90,000 people had attended, far more than expected. The protest organizer, Palestine Action Group Sydney, said in a Facebook post as many as 300,000 people may have marched.
New South Wales police and the state’s premier last week tried to block the march from taking place on the bridge, a city landmark and transport thoroughfare, saying the route could cause safety hazards and transport disruption. The state’s Supreme Court ruled on Saturday that it could go ahead.
Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Peter McKenna said more than a thousand police were deployed and the size of the crowd had led to fears of a crush.
“No one was hurt,” he told a press conference. “But gee whiz, I wouldn’t like try and do this every Sunday at that short notice.”
Police were also present in Melbourne, where a similar protest march took place.
Diplomatic pressure ramped up on Israel in recent weeks. France and Canada have said they will recognize a Palestinian state, and Britain says it will follow suit unless Israel addresses the humanitarian crisis and reaches a ceasefire.
Israel has condemned these decisions as rewarding Hamas, the group that governs Gaza and whose attack on Israel in October 2023 began an Israeli offensive that has flattened much of the enclave. Israel has also denied pursuing a policy of starvation and accused Hamas of stealing aid.
Australia’s center-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he supports a two-state solution and Israel’s denial of aid and killing of civilians “cannot be defended or ignored,” but has not recognized Palestine.
Therese Curtis, a marcher in her 80s, said she had the human right and privilege of good medical care in Australia.
“But the people in Palestine are having their hospitals bombed, they’re being denied a basic right of medical care and I’m marching specifically for that,” she said.
Tens of thousands join pro-Palestinian march over Sydney Harbor Bridge
https://arab.news/ppf96
Tens of thousands join pro-Palestinian march over Sydney Harbor Bridge
- Protesters demand peace and aid for Gaza amid worsening humanitarian crisis
- Supreme Court allows Sydney march despite police safety concerns
- Diplomatic pressure on Israel increases as countries recognize Palestinian state
Pakistani Taliban kill six soldiers in checkpoint attack
- Pakistan has faced a surge in militant attacks along its border regions since the Taliban authorities retook control in Kabul in 2021
PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Pakistani Taliban militants stormed a security checkpoint in Pakistan’s northwestern border area with Afghanistan, killing six soldiers and wounding four others, a government official said Tuesday.
Pakistan has faced a surge in militant attacks along its border regions since the Taliban authorities retook control in Kabul in 2021.
It accuses Afghanistan of harboring the insurgents, a claim the Taliban government denies.
Late Monday, more than a dozen armed men attacked the checkpoint, leading to a heavy exchange of fire in Kurram, a tribal district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Six security personnel were martyred and four were injured, while two militants were also killed in the fighting,” the government official posted in Kurram, who was not authorized to speak to the media, told AFP on the condition of anonymity.
The Pakistani Taliban group, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has long been active in the region, and claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistan accuses the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan of sheltering TTP militants and allowing them to launch cross-border attacks from there — a charge Kabul denies.
The border between the two countries has been closed since the clashes in October, though Pakistan said last week it would allow UN aid supplies to pass to Afghanistan soon.
The attack comes days after an exchange of gunfire and shelling between Afghan and Pakistani forces at a major border crossing that killed four civilians and one soldier, according to Afghanistan.
Each side accused the other of starting the fighting.
