Protesters call for cease-fire as conflict rages

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators rallied in cities in Europe, the Middle East and Asia on Saturday to show support for a cease-fire as Israel's military widened its air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip.

In one of the biggest marches, in London, aerial footage showed large crowds marching through the center of the capital to demand that the government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak call for a cease-fire.

One marcher, Dani Nadiri, 36, said Sunak's call for a "humanitarian pause" in the fighting to allow aid into Gaza and hostages to leave was not enough.

"A full cease-fire needs to happen," Nadiri told Agence France-Presse. "It's time now to do something rather than let it escalate any further."

London's Metropolitan Police deployed more than 1,000 officers to patrol the march.

Thousands of demonstrators took part in rallies across France on Saturday. Protesters joined one in Paris, defying a court ban issued on public order grounds. A large contingent of police blocked demonstrators in the center of the capital.

Addressing hundreds of thousands of supporters at a huge rally in Istanbul, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday accused the West of failing to stop the Israeli offensive and slammed Israel's attacks on Gaza.

"It's the West that is most responsible" for the killing in Gaza, Erdogan said.

The conflict has entered the fourth week, but "the Western leaders cannot even call on Israel for a cease-fire, let alone react to it", he added.

After Erdogan's speech, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen announced that he had recalled the country's diplomatic representatives from Turkiye in response and would "reassess" relations with Turkiye.

Erdogan had canceled a planned visit to Israel earlier last week.

Agencies - Xinhua