In a massive display of international solidarity, hundreds of thousands of people mobilized across Europe and Turkiye this weekend, demanding an immediate and permanent end to Israel’s two-year war on Gaza, which has claimed more than 67,000 Palestinian lives and pushed the enclave to the brink of famine.
The largest mobilization took place in the Netherlands, where approximately 250,000 people flooded Amsterdam’s Museum Square before marching through the city center. Demonstrators, draped in Palestinian flags, exerted pressure on the Dutch government to adopt a harder stance and halt arms exports to Israel.
“The bloodshed must stop – and that we unfortunately have to stand here because we have such an incredibly weak government that doesn’t dare to draw a red line. That’s why we are here, in the hope that it helps,” stated protester Marieke van Zijl.
Amnesty International, a key organizer, echoed this sentiment, with spokesperson Marjon Rozema emphasizing, “All economic and diplomatic means must be used to increase pressure on Israel.” The protest comes amid mounting public anger that has made the export of F-35 jet parts to Israel appear “unlikely” according to the Foreign Minister.
Hundreds of thousands of people fill the streets and public squares across Turkiye in solidarity with the Palestinian people, after two years of brutal Israeli genocide in Gaza, and in protest of the Israeli attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla. pic.twitter.com/qPLaL2Us3F
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) October 5, 2025
Calls for Unity and Decisive Action
In Turkiye, solidarity reached striking levels. Vast crowds in Istanbul marched from the historic Hagia Sophia mosque to the banks of the Golden Horn, calling for Muslim unity in confronting Israel’s assault. Similarly, protesters in Ankara denounced the two-year conflict as a “genocide,” echoing sentiments on placards held by Bulgarians in Sofia, which read, “Gaza: Starvation is a Weapon of War” and “Gaza is the Biggest Graveyard of Children.”
Support for Palestine runs deep in Turkiye, whose President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has emerged as one of Israel’s fiercest critics on the world stage.
Across the region, the message was unwavering. In Morocco’s capital, Rabat, crowds burned an Israeli flag and demanded their government reverse its 2020 decision to normalise ties with Israel, also calling for the release of human rights defenders detained after joining the Gaza Sumud Flotilla. Rallies were also held across Spain, where marchers carried white bundles symbolizing the children killed in Gaza.
The global demonstrations send a clear and unified message to policymakers: the world demands decisive, immediate diplomatic action to enforce a ceasefire, end the humanitarian catastrophe, and stop the proliferation of arms to the occupying power.
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