Tens of thousands protest in Berlin and call for end to the Israel-Hamas war

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BERLIN (AP) — Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of the German capital on Saturday in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The demonstrators called for a conclusion to the Israel-Hamas war, shouting slogans like “free, free Palestine,” and they demanded an end to the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Around 50,000 people took part in the march through Berlin's downtown area, according to police. About 1,800 law enforcement officers were deployed to monitor the demonstrators.

The protesters also called for a halt to German arms exports to Israel and demanded European Union sanctions against Israel, German news agency dpa reported.

Last month, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that Germany wouldn't authorize any exports of military equipment to Israel that could be used in Gaza “until further notice." The country has balked at supporting sanctions against Israel.

Germany has been seen as one of Israel’s strongest supporters. It has maintained a strongly pro-Israel stance for decades, largely because of its historical responsibility for the Holocaust, which has shaped its postwar foreign policy around ensuring Israel’s security and combating antisemitism.

In a separate protest, about 100 people rallied in favor of Israel and “against all forms of antisemitism,” German public broadcaster RBB reported, adding that there were isolated scuffles, when the two protest groups met. It wasn't immediately clear if the scuffles were between the different protesters or with police trying to separate them.

Several thousand people also protested in the western German city of Düsseldorf under the slogan “we will not forget Gaza — freedom for Palestine and all oppressed peoples.”

In Geneva, about 6,000 people demonstrated for an end to the war in Gaza, Swiss public broadcaster SRF reported.

Other European cities have also seen Gaza protests in recent weeks.

The war in Gaza was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. In the attack, militants killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. There are still 48 hostages remaining in Gaza, of whom Israel believes 20 are still alive.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive over the past 23 months has killed more than 65,100 people in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, destroyed vast areas of the Palestinian territory, displaced around 90% of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts saying Gaza City is experiencing famine.

The ministry is under the Hamas-run government. U.N. agencies and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties. It doesn't say how many of those killed were civilians or combatants.