Thousands attend pro-Palestinian rallies in Australia

Heavy police presence around gathering in Sydney's Hyde Park

Palestine supporters protest at Hyde Park in Sydney. Getty Images

A rally supporting the Palestinian people in Jakarta, Indonesia. EPA

Hundreds of people leave Hyde Park after a pro-Palestinian rally in Sydney. AFP

Demonstrators march in support of Palestinians in Los Angeles. AFP

A rally in support of Palestinians in Dearborn, Michigan. AFP

A woman weeps at a day of action for Palestinians event in Washington. AFP

A demonstration in support of Palestinians and against Israel's attacks on Gaza in Santiago, Chile. EPA

Families and supporters of people kidnapped by Hamas light candles in Tel Aviv in memory of more than 1,300 people killed when the militants attacked Israeli settlements on October 7. Getty Images

Supporters of Palestine gather at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. AFP

Demonstrators during a pro-Palestinian rally outside La Moneda Palace in Santiago, Chile. Bloomberg

A demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag in front of the headquarters of the US embassy in Mexico City. EPA

A pro-Palestinian protest in Mississauga, Canada. Reuters

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Thousands of people attended pro-Palestinian rallies in Australian state capitals on Sunday despite police threats to curb them, amid tensions over a bloody incursion into Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas eight days ago.

One of the largest rallies was in Sydney, the capital of the country's most populous state of New South Wales, where protest organiser, the Palestine Action Group, said about 5,000 attended. A Reuters witness estimated the crowd to be about 2,000.

The rallies were held as Israel's military prepared for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, where more than 2,000 people have been killed and more than 9,000 injured in eight days of Israeli bombardment since the Hamas killed more than 1,300 people in Israel near the border of the Palestinian territory.

Many demonstrators waved Palestine flags and chanted "Free Palestine" in Sydney's Hyde Park, as hundreds of police patrolled the area and nearby streets, and a police helicopter circled low overhead.

Police had been considering applying special stop-and-search powers for the first time in almost two decades for people attending the rally, but a Palestine Action Group representative, Amal Naser, said such powers had not been used.

The rally was "peaceful so far", Mr Naser said on Sunday.

Pro-Palestine rallies were also being held on Sunday in state capitals Adelaide and Melbourne, where thousands protested, according to The Guardian Australia.

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters also gathered in the US capital on Saturday, marching past the White House to chants of "Free Palestine" as the death toll continued to climb in the conflict between Israel and Gaza.

"What is happening today is just beyond the pale," demonstrator Linda Houghton said in Washington. "It's so upsetting, we are watching people being killed by an army that this country supports."

Across the country, Americans have held pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protests in the past week as Israel vowed to press on with its retaliation against Hamas that has created a dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

More than one million people in the northern part of the crowded enclave have been ordered to flee ahead of the expected Israeli ground assault, an exodus that aid groups said would worsen the humanitarian disaster.

A medic carries a Palestinian child injured during Israeli air strikes into a hospital in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP

A man walks past images of Israeli hostages snatched by the Palestinian militant group Hamas last week in a surprise attack into Israel, plastered on a wall outside the Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv. AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives at the airport en route to neighbouring Israel for crisis talks after a tour of Arab nations, in Amman. AFP

An Israeli soldier adjusts his rifle as he stands on a tank near Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel. Reuters

Lorries carrying humanitarian aid destined for Gaza wait for the reopening of the Rafah border, in the city of Egyptian city of Al Arish. Reuters

Palestinians search for casualties under the rubble of a house destroyed in Israeli strikes in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Reuters

Members of a Palestinian civil emergency team react after several colleagues were killed in Israeli strikes, at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Reuters

US citizens wait at the port of Haifa to be evacuated to Cyprus, amid the battle between Israel and Hamas. AFP

Paramedics from the Emergency Medical Services, the only health organisation that is operational in Sderot, Israel, pray before starting work. EPA

Israeli soldiers patrol in armoured personnel carriers at an undisclosed position in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon. AFP

People rally in support of Israel outside the Colorado State Capitol Building in Denver, Colorado. AP

Children in Khan Yunis, Gaza. Getty Images

Residents of Gaza City evacuate as Israel continues bombing of the Gaza strip. EPA

Protesters participate in a rally in support of Palestinian people, on Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo, Brazil. EPA

A Palestinian house razed by Israeli strikes in the central Gaza Strip on October 15. Reuters

A man rearranges Jewish prayer books after a synagogue was hit by a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip into Ashkelon, southern Israel. Reuters

Volunteers clean up at the synagogue in Ashkelon. Reuters

Laden aid lorries wait for the opening of the Gaza-Egypt border in North Sinai, Egypt. Getty Images

Injured Palestinians arrive at Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip, an enclave sealed off by Israel and hit by sustained retaliatory air strikes after the surprise Hamas attack. Getty Images

Rockets are fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel by the Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. EPA

Palestinians sit by a building destroyed in an Israeli air strike in Rafah, Gaza. AP

Lorries carrying humanitarian aid to Palestine line up on the desert road from Cairo, heading for the Rafah border crossing into Gaza. Reuters

Palestinians wait at the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. AP

Palestinian children wounded in Israeli air strikes are brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir El Balah, Gaza. AP

Palestinians charge their phones using solar power as electricity supplies remain cut off in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. Reuters

Palestinians wounded in Israeli air strikes are carried into Al Aqsa hospital in Deir El Balah, Gaza. AP Photo

Palestinians queue to refill water containers at Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza. AFP

Palestinians attend to the wounded after Israeli air strikes in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. Reuters

Residents carry a few belongings as they begin to evacuate following an Israeli warning of increased military operations in the Gaza Strip. EPA

Internally displaced Palestinians take refuge at a UN school, in the Rafah refugee camp, in the south of the Gaza Strip. AFP

A wounded boy is rescued from the rubble after Israeli air strikes, in Khan Younis. Reuters

An area with destroyed buildings is deserted after residents of Gaza city began to evacuate. EPA

Palestinians in Khan Younis search for casualties under the rubble in the aftermath of Israeli air strikes. Reuters

Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip was bombed by Israeli forces in retaliation for last week's incursion by Hamas into Israel. Reuters

Khan Younis is in the southern Gaza Strip, where more than a million people in the north have been urged to travel by Israel as it carries out an anticipated ground invasion.

Palestinians search for casualties in Khan Younis. More than 1,500 people have been killed and injured by Israeli attacks on Gaza in the past week. Reuters

A rescue worker searches for casualties under the rubble of a building in Khan Younis. Reuters

A mourner grieves for a relative killed by an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. AP

Palestinians evacuate a wounded youth after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, Gaza Strip. AP

Palestinians flee northern Gaza as Israeli ground forces prepare to enter the Strip. AP

Palestinians have formed convoys to flee northern Gaza. AP

Traffic queues as Palestinians flee northern Gaza for the south. AP

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. AP

Israel has also cut off food, water and electricity supplies to Gaza's 2.4 million people.

Clashes in the occupied West Bank have killed 53 Palestinians in the past week.

"I wish we could all do something, I wish we could stop the war, just stop the war," said Ahmed Abed, one of the protesters marching through Washington under a sea of Palestinian flags.

"They are in prison," he said of the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Signs carried by marchers included messages such as "End the occupation" and "Ceasefire now".

In New York, home to the world's largest Jewish population outside of Israel, hundreds gathered in Brooklyn on Friday in solidarity against Israel's offensive, wielding a banner emblazoned with the message "Jews Say Stop Genocide Against Palestinians".

Jewish New Yorkers have been split, with some voices urging Israel to defend itself and others increasingly warning of a Palestinian "genocide".

Two days after the Hamas attack, Arthur Schneier, the long-time senior rabbi at Manhattan's Park East Synagogue, called the assault "the most existential threat to Israel since its founding in 1948".

On the other side of the country, more than 1,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in Los Angeles on Saturday, local media reported.

Videos on social media showed tense moments between the crowd and pro-Israel counterprotesters.