Thousands gather at pro-Palestinian demonstrations around the country as October 7 anniversary approaches

Thousands of Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have taken to the streets in cities across Australia on the eve of the October 7 attacks, repeating calls for ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.

The protests come as the war in Middle East intensifies and concerns continue to grow over a wider conflict in the region.

That war began after Hamas attacked southern Israeli settlements on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

The Gazan Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have since been killed during the current Israeli offensive.

More than 1,900 people have been killed and over 9,000 wounded in Lebanon in almost a year of cross-border fighting, with most of the deaths occurring during Israel’s bombardment on Lebanon the past two weeks, according to Lebanese government statistics.

Thousands rally in Melbourne

Demonstrators on Sunday gathered at the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne’s CBD, waving flags and joining together in chants.

At the start of the rally, protesters laid thousands of small paper kites in front of the library. 

They said each one represented the life of a child killed in Gaza during the war.

“We just want to show that enough is enough, and also just to mourn the dead like we are,” youth worker Lucas Li, who organised the kite display, said.

“These were children. They were playful. They were bright, they were curious. 

Educator and political analyst Noura Mansour from the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network spoke to the crowd.

She said it had been “a difficult 12 months” for Palestinian communities.

“We now watch the Israeli violence spill over to the entire region as it targets our brothers and sisters and families in Lebanon,” she said.

After hearing speeches, protesters made their way through Melbourne’s CBD to Flinders Street Station, with organisers leading chants through megaphones as police officers monitored the crowd.

On Sunday morning Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said Victoria Police were well prepared to react to any incidents at the scheduled protests.

“There is a right to peacefully protest but with that right comes a responsibility to do so respectfully and understand what the grief and trauma is being experienced by others in our community,” Ms Allan said.

“It should be a day of understanding. We need to pause and see that conflict in the Middle East should not bring conflict to the streets of Melbourne or Victoria.”

Protesters gather in Sydney

In Sydney, demonstrators gathered at Hyde Park before marching through the city.

Josh Lees from Palestine Action Group Sydney said he expected tens of thousands of attendees to show up to Sunday’s protest to take a stand against the “ongoing genocide” in Gaza.

Israel has strenuously denied allegations of genocide.

Mr Lees said the demonstrations being held today were more crucial than ever.

“This war on Lebanon that Israel is beginning, now they’re threatening a regional war with Iran potentially too, so there’s more reason than ever we need to get out and protest,” he said.

It comes after attempts this week by NSW Police to block the protests through the Supreme Court.

Mr Lees was critical of the government, saying the authorities were interfering with the public’s democratic right to protest.

“We’ve also seen despicable efforts from the authorities here today to try and stop us protesting, which I think is going to make even more people come out today in defiance of that,” Mr Lees said.

“We don’t need to prove anything to them, we’ve proved ourselves for 51 weeks now.”

Rowena Kassir joined the protest today at Sydney’s Hyde Park. 

Ms Kassir, who has family in southern Lebanon, said many of her family members had been forced to evacuate further north in the country as a result of military strikes by Israel.

“This morning we just heard that the main road to Beirut airport is now gone, the main road between Syria and Lebanon is gone. Where are they meant to go?” she said.

She said her community felt a lack of support from the Australian government and local MPs.

“Our voices are not being heard, especially by the Australian government, and until something is done, this won’t end,” she said.

Flag, signage warning sees one arrested 

Ahead of Sunday’s rallies, authorities warned attendees against carrying the flag of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is a designated terrorist organisation in Australia, or images of its leader Hassan Nasrallah who was killed in an Israeli air strike in late September.

Both had been seen at rallies last week. 

On Sunday, NSW police officers were seen checking green and yellow flags in the crowd, with signs around the park warning against the display of potentially illegal symbols.

The ABC spoke to one man holding a yellow and green flag which appeared to show a masked man holding a weapon in a design that echoed the Hezbollah flag.

The flag carried the wording “the boys in green and gold will win”.

The man holding the flag said the slogan referred to the Australian cricket team.

Hezbollah flags were carried at ceasefire rallies in Melbourne and Sydney last week, drawing the attention of the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

On Sunday at least one person was arrested in Sydney and another had been spoken to by police in relation to the signs they were carrying.

NSW Police said the man was arrested by police for carrying an Israeli flag with a swastika in the middle of it instead of the Star of David.

He was expected to be charged.

One man, holding a card with the symbol of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is a proscribed terrorist group in the United States but not in Australia, was ordered to remove the sign by police.

The public display of prohibited terrorist organisation symbols is an offence in some circumstances under Australian laws, including if the display is likely to offend, humiliate or insult “a member of a group of persons distinguished by race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion or national or social origin”.

Adelaide protesters gather at parliament house

More than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators also gathered outside South Australian Parliament House in Adelaide.

The protest took place in the presence of police.

Meanwhile, a handful of demonstrators supporting Israel have set up photos at Rundle Mall in Adelaide’s CBD of people they say are war hostages.

Memorial held by Melbourne’s Jewish community

Across the CBD in Melbourne’s Southbank, hundreds from Melbourne’s Jewish community also gathered on Sunday as part of a memorial to mark the anniversary of the October 7 attacks.

Some held pictures of loved ones in the crowd, while others wrote names of people captured in the October 7 attack on a large dog tag.

The rally was also attended by some members of the Iranian community, who waved pre-Revolution Iranian flags alongside Israeli flags.

As the event concluded, those in attendance were asked by organisers to put away their Israeli flags as they left, and directed on the safest route out of the area.