Pro-Palestine rally held in front of German parliament

BERLIN

Pro-Palestine protesters staged a rally in front of Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, on Monday as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Netherlands began hearing a case brought by Nicaragua accusing Berlin of facilitating “genocide” in Gaza by providing political and military support to Israel.

The crowd carried Palestinian flags and banners saying "Genocide-Germany is participating again" and "Stop supplying weapons.”

Speaking to Anadolu, Jara Nassar, one of the participants, said: "We think Germany is guilty of aiding genocide,” in reference to the case at the ICJ.

“We demand that Germany stop criminalizing and silencing pro-Palestinian voices. Of course, we also want a cease-fire to be achieved as soon as possible, the blockade of Gaza to be lifted and the occupation of Palestine to be ended immediately,” he added.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive since an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas which killed nearly 1,200 people.

Over 33,200 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 76,000 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

On March 25, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. While Hamas welcomed the resolution, Israel rejected the cease-fire call and vowed to continue its war on the Palestinian enclave.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which in January issued an interim ruling that ordered it to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.