Bombing of Gaza has only incited ‘hunger for justice': Julian Assange's father

By Anadolu staff

Israel’s bombing of Gaza has only incited more anger and a “hunger for justice” across the world, the father of imprisoned Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said Sunday.

John Shipton was addressing thousands of people attending a pro-Palestine rally in Australia’s Victoria state, one of numerous such rallies being held across Australia for the sixth straight week calling for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide in support of a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, the Australia Broadcasting Corporation reported.

The rallies were the latest in a string of marches held across Australia since Oct. 7.

In Melbourne, thousands gathered outside the State Library of Victoria before marching to Treasury Gardens.

The crowd, many draped in Palestinian flags, carried signs calling for an immediate cease-fire and chanted "Free, free Palestine" and "Shame, shame, Labor shame.”

The rally was attended by Shipton.

Addressing the rally, he listed the casualties from other conflicts in the Middle East and said there was a "cloud of grief and rage" over the region that has only grown since the war in Gaza.

"Soil watered with the blood of precious children over the last 36 days. What do they expect will grow from that soil?"

"I can tell you: rage, a hunger for justice that's swept around the globe and embraced every human being that is sentient enough to have sympathy for another," he said.

Greens Party Senator Mehreen Faruqi in her speech urged the federal government to denounce the "genocide" in Gaza.

"They can't even bring themselves to join the chorus of nations that are calling for a cease-fire," Faruqi told the crowd.

"Shame on them...We will not shut up."

Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered at Hyde Park in Sydney calling for a cease-fire and vowing to keep up their protests.

The organizers led a multicultural crowd in chants of "In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians," as protesters held up signs reading "Cease-fire now" and "Stop genocide."

The death toll in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7 has reached 13,000, including over 5,500 children and 3,500 women, the media office in the besieged enclave said on Sunday.

The number of injuries has exceeded 30,000, with more than 75% of them being children and women, it said in a statement.

The administration said the number of missing persons crossed 6,000, with most of them suspected of lying under the rubble of the fallen buildings.

Thousands of buildings, including hospitals, mosques and churches, have been damaged or destroyed in Israel’s relentless air and ground attacks on the besieged enclave.

An Israeli blockade has also cut Gaza off from fuel, electricity and water supplies and reduced aid deliveries to a trickle.

The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is around 1,200, according to official figures.