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New York City police arrested at least 200 people from a protest at Grand Central Station on Friday to demand an end to Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip.
Wearing black T-shirts saying “Jews say ceasefire now” and “Not in our name”, hundreds of protesters filled the main concourse of the railway terminal during the evening rush hour as Israel intensified its bombardment of Gaza.
At least 200 of the demonstrators were detained by New York Police Department officers and led out of the railway station, their hands zip-tied behind their backs. The police said the protesters were issued summonses and released.
Some protesters hoisted banners as they scaled the stone ledges in front of the signboards listing departure times.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority asked commuters to use Penn Station as an alternative. After the sit-in was broken up by police, the remaining protesters spilt into the streets outside.
Images on social media showed protesters pouring out of the train station and on to 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan, and a large crowd being detained by law enforcement officials.
“Hundreds of Jews and friends are taking over Grand Central Station in a historic sit-in calling for a ceasefire,” advocacy group Jewish Voice for Peace said on social media.
It posted a video on Instagram showing police at the station escorting a long line of protesters with their arms secured behind their backs.
“Hundreds of Jews and allies are getting arrested in what is likely the biggest mass civil disobedience movement NYC has seen in two decades,” the group wrote in the post.
The scene was similar to a sit-in last week on Capitol Hill in Washington, where Jewish advocacy groups, including Jewish Voice for Peace and If Not Now, poured into a congressional office building. More than 300 people were arrested for demonstrating illegally.
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A girl is rescued from the rubble of a building destroyed by Israeli air strikes in Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip. AP Photo -
An Apache helicopter fires flares, seen from Sderot in southern Israel, close to the border with Gaza. Reuters -
Palestinians plug their phones into portable charging stations on a street in Khan Younis, Gaza. Bloomberg -
Residents search survivors among the rubble following Israeli strikes on Jabalia, northern Gaza. EPA -
Palestinians search for survivors and bodies following Israeli airstrikes at the Jabalia, the largest refugee camp in Gaza. AP -
Palestinians look for survivors among the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli strikes on Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. AP -
Palestinians look for survivors among the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli strikes on Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza. AP -
A fire burns in western Gaza after an Israeli air strike. Reuters -
Missiles are fired from Israel towards the Gaza Strip. Getty Images -
Smoke rises from an explosion in Gaza. Getty Images -
A group of men survey the destruction following air strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city, as Israeli forces entered the northern area of the Gaza Strip. AFP -
A man drives a damaged car following air strikes on Gaza city. AFP -
A man pushes a bicycle past the remains of buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
A woman and children walk past a house destroyed in Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
People dig through the rubble of a destroyed building following Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
A man drives a damaged car past a building destroyed in Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
People gather amid the destruction following Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
Wrecked vehicles and rubble on the streets following Israeli strikes on Al Shatee camp in Gaza city. AFP -
Smoke rises from the northern Gaza Strip as Israeli air and ground forces amplified their military activities against Hamas. EPA -
An Israeli Apache attack helicopter flies close to the border with the Gaza Strip, near Israel's southern city of Ashkelon. AFP -
Israeli soldiers in an armoured personnel carrier on patrol near Israel's border with Gaza. EPA -
The crew of an Israeli tank prepare for ground operations near the border with Gaza. EPA -
Israeli soldiers prepare for ground manoeuvres at an undisclosed location in Israel near the border with Gaza. EPA -
The ruins of northern Gaza seen from Sderot in southern Israel. EPA -
Smoke and explosions caused by Israeli bombardment over northern Gaza. AP Photo -
An explosion on the Israel-Gaza border. Reuters -
A video grab shows fireballs and smoke rising above Gaza city following an Israeli attack. AFP -
An explosion in Gaza seen from Sderot in southern Israel. Reuters -
A video grab shows rockets fired from Gaza city. AFP -
Israeli air strikes in the northern Gaza Strip. AP Photo -
A video grab shows a salvo of rockets fired from Gaza city. AFP -
A flare trail fired by the Israeli army east of Khan Younis on the southern Gaza Strip. AFP -
Smoke from the bombing of the Gaza Strip over the Israeli border city of Ashkelon. AFP -
Flares over Gaza as seen from Sderot in southern Israel. Reuters
Israel stepped up air strikes across the Gaza Strip on Friday, knocking out internet and largely cutting off communication with the 2.3 million people inside the besieged Palestinian enclave. Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry says more than 7,300 people have been killed, more than 60 per cent of them minors and women.
The Israeli military said on Friday it was expanding ground operations in the territory, seen as a signal that it was moving closer to an all-out invasion of Gaza, where it has vowed to crush the ruling Hamas militant group after its bloody incursion in southern Israel three weeks ago.
More than 1,400 people were killed in Israel during the attack, according to the Israeli government, and at least 229 hostages were taken into Gaza.
Amid mounting concern for the plight of civilians in Gaza, the UN General Assembly on Friday approved a non-binding resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza leading to a cessation of hostilities.
It was the first UN response to Hamas’ surprise October 7 attacks and Israel’s continuing military response.
