Tens of thousands of people demonstrated on Friday in several Arab capitals, such as Cairo, Tunis and Baghdad, in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which Israel has been bombing since the Hamas attack on October 7.
More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israeli territory due to attacks carried out by the Palestinian Islamic Movement since October 7, most of them on the same day, according to Israeli authorities.
In addition, according to the Israeli army, about 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in the counterattack in which Israel regained control of the areas under attack.
In the Gaza Strip, which is under an almost complete Israeli siege, more than 4,100 Palestinians, most of them civilians, were killed in Israel’s continuing bombardment in response, according to local authorities.
After Friday prayers, thousands of people took to the streets to “support Gaza” in several Arab cities, two days after the “Day of Rage” in which many protests were also called.
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In Egypt, according to local media, marches were organized in the country’s main cities.
In the capital, Cairo, tens of thousands of Egyptians demonstrated, especially in the symbolic Tahrir Square, chanting “Live, Freedom, Arab Palestine” and “The people want the fall of Israel,” slogans inspired by the slogans of the “2011 Revolution” that broke out in Egypt. He overthrew President Hosni Mubarak.
In the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, thousands of people demonstrated, including many supporters of the Popular Mobilization Forces, an alliance of armed factions loyal to Iran, the arch enemy of Israel and supporter of Hamas.
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Ali Hussein (45 years old), a taxi driver, told AFP, “We support the Palestinian people against the occupying Israeli entity.”
Protests were also organized in the Iraqi governorates of Nineveh (north) and Dhi Qar (south).
In the west of the country, hundreds of supporters of the Popular Mobilization Forces began a sit-in “in support of Gaza.”
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Protests also broke out in Jordan, a country neighboring Israel, with which it has signed a peace treaty. In the capital, Amman, more than 5,000 people demonstrated in front of the Grand Husseini Mosque, chanting, “Save Gaza!” And “Open the borders to support the Palestinian people!”
In Iran, hundreds demonstrated at night in Tehran, chanting: “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
The Lebanese also took to the streets, whether in Beirut or its southern environs, the stronghold of the Hezbollah movement, an ally of Hamas.
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In Tunisia, thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the Embassy of France, the country accused of supporting Israel in its war against Hamas.
The demonstrators chanted, “France, get out,” expressing their support for Hamas.
North of the capital, dozens gathered in front of the United States Embassy and burned the flag of that country.
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The Yemeni capital, Sanaa, controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, was the scene of a large demonstration in which huge Palestinian flags were raised.
On the other hand, about 2,000 people demonstrated in Bahrain and the Gulf, where they chanted slogans against Israel and the United States.
One of the demonstrators, holding her child in her arms, said during a march organized after prayers: “I am a mother, I cannot even imagine the atrocities that families are suffering in Gaza.”
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