By Diyar Guldogan
WASHINGTON (AA) - Thousands of protesters on Saturday surrounded the White House to protest US President Joe Biden’s policy in the Israeli war in the Gaza Strip, principally the invasion of Rafah.
The protest coincided with the eight-month mark of the war between Israel and Palestine.
It started at Lafayette Park in front of the White House, where protesters, wearing red clothes, surrounded the building with a two-mile-long red banner symbolizing Biden's "red line" of an Israeli invasion of Rafah.
Previously, Biden said that an Israeli invasion of Rafah would cross a "red line," but his senior officials were quick to backtrack on those remarks, saying the president did not set any "red lines" for Israel as it carries out its offensive.
The police tightened the security and put additional public safety measures, including anti-scale fencing, near the White House complex.
"Biden, We Are Your Red Line," protesters said, calling on the president to stop the “genocide” in Gaza. They also demanded him to stop sending weapons to Israel.
Their banners read: "Genocide Is Our Red Line", "Biden's Red Line Was A Lie", "Hands Off Rafah! Stop The Genocide", "End All US Aid to Israel", "Stop Arming Israel", "Lift the Siege on Gaza Now", "Arms Embargo on Israel".
Carrying Palestinian flags, the protesters also chanted slogans against the president, saying: "Biden you can't hide, we charge you with genocide!"
Biden is currently on a state visit to France.
The president has faced a wave of protests nationwide regarding his handling of the Gaza conflict.
Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since Oct. 7 despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
More than 36,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and over 83,600 others injured, according to local health authorities.
Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.