- Tens of thousands of antiwar activists descended on Washington, DC on Saturday.
- Organizers said they expected up to 100,000 people.
- Protesters held signs that read “Free Palestine!” and called on the US to stop giving aid to Israel.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Washington, DC, on Saturday in support of Palestinians.
Thousands of protesters came to the city on buses and cars from out of state, including as far away as Georgia.
Washington, DC, is the latest city to see large pro-Palestinian rallies. Hundreds of thousands of protesters around the world have staged demonstrations in the last week, including massive protests in London, Istanbul, and elsewhere. Major cities through the United States have also seen rallies, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and elsewhere.
Several large protests took place last weekend after the Israel Defense Forces launched its ground operation in Gaza.
Hamas militants killed more than 1,400 people and kidnapped an estimated 100-200 people in a series of attacks on southern Israel on October 7.
In response, Israel launched punishing airstrikes and then a ground offensive in the densely populated Gaza Strip, a sliver of land the size of Philadelphia that is home to 2 million people, many of them children.
The Hamas-led Palestinian Health Ministry says that the death toll in Gaza is nearing 10,000 people. Thousands of those fatalities have been children, it says. The median age in Gaza is 18.
