MADRID: Waving flags and banners, thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched through the streets of Madrid on Sunday (Oct 29) to demand an immediate ceasefire in the deadly war between Israel and Hamas.
Cries of “Freedom for Palestine” rang out as the crowd snaked through the closed off streets of the Spanish capital.
Around 35,000 people took part according to the central government’s delegation to Madrid, making it one of the biggest rallies in Spain in support of Palestinians since the attack by Hamas on Israel earlier this month.
Israel unleashed a bombing campaign after Hamas gunmen stormed across the Gaza border on Oct 7, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 230 others, according to Israeli officials.
Since the attack, the health ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip says more than 8,000 Palestinians have been killed – half of them children – by Israel’s relentless retaliatory bombardments.
The protest in Madrid came as Israel’s military late on Friday intensified its air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip.