Thousands join protests calling for Israelis to stop bombing Gaza

Thousands of people have joined protests across Wales today against the Israeli bombing of Gaza.

The events in Cardiff, Abergavenny, Wrexham, Presteigne, Swansea and Machynlleth took place as Israel intensifies its bombardment of Gaza, an area densely packed with over two million residents and equivalent in size to the Vale of Glamorgan.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, who organised several of the protests, described the Israeli attacks as “the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.”

The Campaign said: “In the face of Israel’s brutal crimes, we can’t remain silent” and called for boycotts of Israeli goods and institutions.

The Palestine solidarity protest in Cardiff was attended by around 500 people and started off with chants of ‘Gaza. Gaza don’t you cry, Palestine will never die’ and ‘Free, free Palestine.’.

There were also huge protests across the UK, including London and Manchester.

Last night, people in Gaza, and their friends and families, posted videos and images online of bombs raining down on residential areas, with homes and neighbourhoods destroyed.

Today, an Israeli air strike has destroyed a high-rise building in Gaza City that housed offices of The Associated Press and other media outlets.

Machynlleth yn cydsefyll efo Palesteina ✊ ❤️ pic.twitter.com/INX2yNT4Ka

— Angharad Penrhyn (@angharadPJ) May 15, 2021

The move is the latest step by the Israeli military to silence reporting from the territory amid its battle with the militant group Hamas.

The strike came nearly an hour after the military ordered people to evacuate the building, which also housed Al-Jazeera, other offices and residential apartments.

The strike brought the entire 12-storey building down, collapsing with a gigantic cloud of dust.

There was no immediate explanation for why the building was attacked.

The strike came hours after another Israeli air raid on a densely populated refugee camp in Gaza City killed at least 10 Palestinians from an extended family, mostly children, in the deadliest single strike of the current conflict.