ISTANBUL

Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Australia marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge on Sunday as part of a rally calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and humanitarian aid to be allowed into the enclave.

While weekly marches have taken place every Sunday since October 2023, this is the first time the Palestine Action Group has held its protest on Sydney’s iconic bridge.

The Palestine Action Group Sydney organized the March for Humanity, calling on "everyone, every individual and every organisation, who cannot bear to do nothing in the face of this atrocity, to join with us."

It said the event "will send a powerful message to the world, to Gaza, to Israel, and to our own Government, that we are determined to stand up for humanity," calling on the authorities to facilitate the event.

"The deliberate starvation of 2 million Gazans is a part of a broader plan, repeatedly announced by Israeli leaders, to either kill or expel the entire Palestinian population from Gaza. This is a genocide," the group said.

THe NSW Police said on X that due to public safety issues, they will be working with protesters to get everyone off the bridge safely, but in a staged manner.

Greens' senator for New South Wales Mehreen Faruqi addressed the crowd, calling for “the harshest sanctions on Israel."

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was also among those marching on a rainy Sunday in Sydney.

The Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, killing more than 60,000 Palestinians. The relentless bombing has destroyed the enclave, collapsed the health system and led to deaths by starvation and hunger.