The streets of Berlin were flooded with tens of thousands of protestors who took to the streets of the capital calling for an end to the Israel-Hamas war.
The demonstrators protested on the streets of Berlin on Saturday in solidarity with people in Gaza. They shouted slogans like "Free, Free Palestine". According to a report by German news agency dpa, the protesters called the government to halt arms export to Israel. They also pressed for sanctions against Israel. Around 50 thousand people took part in the protest, reported AP citing the police. It said that about 1,00 law enforcement officers were deployed to monitor the situation. In a separate protest, about 100 people rallied in favour of Israel and “against all forms of antisemitism,” German public broadcaster RBB reported.
The report said that there were isolated scuffles, when the two protest groups met. It wasn’t immediately clear if the scuffles were between the different protesters or with police trying to separate them.
Germany has been seen as one of Israel’s strongest supporters. However, last month Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Germany wouldn’t authorize any exports of military equipment to Israel that could be used in Gaza “until further notice.” The country has balked at supporting sanctions against Israel.
The war in Gaza was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. In the attack, around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 251 people were abducted. There are still 48 hostages remaining in Gaza, of whom Israel believes 20 are still alive, according to reports.
According to AP, Israel’s retaliatory offensive over the past 23 months has killed more than 65,100 people in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, destroyed vast areas of the Palestinian territory, displaced around 90% of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is experiencing famine.
In a recent development, the US has proposed a 21-point plan to end the war in Gaza and ensure a ceasefire. The plan encourages the Palestinians to remain in the strip and provides for a creation of a future Palestinian state.
This comes days after several countries- including France, Australia and the UK- recognised the Palestinian state, a move dismissed by Israel.
