Amsterdam (dpa) — Tens of thousands of people took to the streets of The Hague in the Netherlands on Sunday to protest Israel’s military action in Gaza and demand a drastic change of course from their government.
Most of the demonstrators were dressed in red to convey the “red line” that the Israeli military has crossed in carrying out what protesters call a genocide in Gaza.
Organizers said around 150,000 people had joined the march, making it the largest demonstration in the Netherlands in 20 years. Reporters estimated the number of participants at more than 100,000.
The demonstrators demanded that the Dutch government stop all military and diplomatic support for Israel, which has blocked off Gaza from aid and international journalists as part of what it says is its fight with militants from the Islamist group Hamas.
Israel responded to the unprecedented Hamas attacks in October 2023, which killed some 1,200 people, with devastating bombardment of the Palestinian area, killing more than 54,000 people according to Palestinian figures and turning much of the region to rubble.
“We will no longer accept looking away, diplomatic word games, complicity in the most horrific war crimes,” organizers said.
Various aid and peace organizations had called for the demonstration. The march moved from an area near the main railway station to the Peace Palace, the seat of the International Court of Justice, the highest U.N. court.
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