News - Middle East: Thousands of protesters have marched in the French capital to show solidarity with the people in the besieged Gaza Strip, calling the Israeli attacks on helpless people a "genocide" and demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

Gathering at the Republic Square in Paris, the crowd held a march toward the Bastille Square chanting pro-Palestinian slogans.
The anti-Israel protesters demanded a stop to the forced displacement of Gaza's residents, arms transfers to Israel, and a lifting of the blockade of the besieged enclave.
"When they starve and thirst a people, when there are no longer functioning hospitals in the Gaza Strip, it is genocide, when they bomb and destroy houses and schools, it is genocide and that is what we are fighting against today," Omar Alsoumi, a protester said.
"Have for yourself the glory of protest, against the anonymous silence of the murders who, hiding one behind the other, kill, kill, and kill again, thinking that in this way they will solve the problems," Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of La France Insoumise (LFI) said addressing the rally.
Footage shows demonstrators burning flares in the colors of Palestine and waving Palestinian flags as they marched with placards reading “Stop arms deliveries to Israel”, “Freedom for all prisoners” and “Stop the massacres / Their lives are worth the lives of yours / Stop the genocide”, among other slogans.
The protest was called by the National Collective for a Just and Lasting Peace between Palestinians and Israelis and other collectives such as Urgence Palestine. The march started at Place de la Republique and ended at Place de la Bastille.
A number of officials such as Jean-Luc Melenchon, leader of LFI, Marin Tondelier, leader of Europe Ecology Greens (EELV), and Hala Abu Hassira, Palestinian Ambassador to France, were among the protesters.