Palestinian group urges mass rallies worldwide on Aug. 1-3 to protest Israel’s genocide and blockade
The Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Tuesday called for an escalation of global action during the first three days of August to protest Israel’s ongoing genocide and starvation policy in the Gaza Strip.
“We call for stepping up worldwide mobilization on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Aug. 1-3), and in the days ahead, against the continuation of Zionist aggression, genocide and starvation in Gaza,” the group said in a statement.
Hamas urged that Sunday, Aug. 3, be marked as a “Global Day of Support for Gaza, Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa and Palestinian prisoners,” dedicating it to its former leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated by Israel in Tehran on July 31, 2024.
It recalled that on July 29, 2024, Haniyeh himself had called for Aug. 3 that year to be a day of global solidarity with Gaza.
The group called for sustained worldwide demonstrations “in cities and capitals across the globe, through mass marches and angry protests, against the ongoing Zionist aggression, genocide, and systematic starvation targeting over 2 million Palestinians in Gaza.”
It also urged “escalating all forms of protests and sit-ins in front of Zionist and American embassies, as well as embassies of countries supporting the occupation, everywhere in the world, until the aggression and starvation against children, women, patients and innocent civilians in Gaza come to an end.”
According to the latest figures from Gaza’s Health Ministry, 147 Palestinians, including 88 children, have died from hunger and malnutrition since Oct. 7, 2023.
The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has killed nearly 60,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023.
In its latest report on Tuesday, the global hunger monitor IPC said the “worst-case scenario” of famine is “currently playing out” in the Gaza Strip.
“Conflict and displacement have intensified, and access to food and other essential items and services has plummeted to unprecedented levels,” the report said.
