Hundreds protest in Prague, calling for justice, cease-fire in strong pro-Palestine demonstration

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AA) - Hundreds joined a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the Czech capital Prague on Sunday to demand justice and a cease-fire in Gaza and condemn the ongoing Israeli aggression.

The mass rally, held from Jan Palach Square to Wenceslas Square, was dominated by young local and international students from the capital city.

Demonstrators performed a five-minute "die-in protest" by lying down at the Wenceslas Square to raise awareness of the number of victims of the ongoing Israeli aggression in Gaza.

Organizers of the protest, Prague4PalestineYouth, expressed their strong reservations over the Czech Republic’s support to Israel in its ongoing aggression in Gaza, while protesters demanded justice for the victims of the war and called out the nations that are complicit in it.

The protesters chanted against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel's illegal occupation in the West Bank.

They also reiterated their commitment that they will not stop marching for Palestine, and keep the momentum going with more initiatives and protests.

Lamis Khalilova Bartusek, a Palestinian-Czech activist, told the protesters that the Israeli military operation at the Al-Shifa Hospital -- the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip -- was a continuation of past massacres, and that it was carried out to destroy the healthcare system in northern Gaza and to make the city uninhabitable.

Israel has launched a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023 following a Hamas attack that killed nearly 1,200 people.

Nearly 34,100 people have since been killed and 77,000 others injured amid mass destructions and severe 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.