Palestinians across West Bank protest Gaza war

RAMALLAH: Thousands of Palestinians protested in the occupied West Bank’s major cities Sunday against the war in Gaza and in support of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

One of the largest marches took place in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority located just north of Jerusalem, with hundreds gathering at the main square, waving Palestinian flags.

Many protesters carried photos of Palestinians killed or imprisoned by Israel, as well as photos depicting the hunger crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip, where UN-backed experts have warned that a “famine is unfolding”.

“My son is in (Israel’s) Megido prison and he suffers from many things, such as the lack of medicine the lack of food,” Rula Ghanem, a Palestinian academic and writer who took part in the march, told AFP.

She told AFP that her son had lost 10 kilograms and suffered from scabies in jail.

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The number of Palestinians jailed by Israel skyrocketed after the start of the war in Gaza, some for violent acts, but some also for posting political statements on social media, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs says.

The commission’s spokesman Thaer Shriteh told AFP: “The international community is a partner in all this suffering, as long as it does not intervene quickly to save the Palestinian people and save the prisoners inside the prisons and detention centre.”

A group of protesters dressed as skeletons and carried dolls around to symbolise the Gaza war’s dire effect on children, who are most at risk of malnutrition.

Israel has heavily restricted the entry of aid into Gaza, which was already under blockade for 15 years before the war began.

UN agencies, humanitarian groups and analysts say that much of the trickle of food aid that Israel allows in is looted or diverted in chaotic circumstances.

“We hope that our stand today will have an impact in supporting our people in Gaza and the hungry children in Gaza,” said 39-year-old Tagreed Ziada, one of the protesters at the Ramallah march.

Protests were held Sunday in other major Palestinian cities such as Nablus in the north and Hebron in the south, with many government employees receiving a day off to attend the demonstrations.

While there have been somewhat regular demonstrations against the war in Gaza, they are rarely coordinated across various cities in the West Bank.