Pro-Palestine demonstration held in Brussels

By Dursun Aydemir

BRUSSELS (AA) – Protesters on Wednesday staged a rally in the Belgian capital Brussels in solidarity with Palestinians.

Gathering outside the Foreign Ministry, some 200 protesters criticized the EU for "allowing Israel to commit genocide" in the Gaza Strip.

Also denouncing those who support Israel, they accused European countries of being complicit in the massacre of Palestinians.

Chanting pro-Palestinian slogans, including "Freedom for Palestine" and "Boycott Israel," the protesters demanded an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and increased flow of urgent humanitarian aid.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack, which Tel Aviv said killed nearly 1,200 people.

More than 30,700 Palestinians have since been killed and over 72,000 others injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

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.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.