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Thousands of Australians joined pro-Palestinian rallies on Sunday, organizers said, amid strained relations between Israel and Australia following the center-left government’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state.
More than 40 protests took place across Australia on Sunday, Palestine Action Group said, including large turnouts in state capitals Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. The group said around 350,000 attended the rallies nationwide, including around 50,000 in Brisbane, though police estimated the numbers there at closer to 10,000. Police did not have estimates for crowd sizes in Sydney and Melbourne.
In Sydney, organizer Josh Lees said Australians were out in force to “demand an end to this genocide in Gaza and to demand that our government sanction Israel” as rallygoers, many with Palestinian flags, chanted “free, free Palestine.”
Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the umbrella group for Australia’s Jews, told Sky New television that the rallies created “an unsafe environment and shouldn’t be happening.”
The protests follow Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week stepping up his personal attacks on his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese over his government’s decision this month to recognize a Palestinian state.
Diplomatic ties between Australia and Israel soured after Albanese’s Labor government said it would conditionally recognize Palestinian statehood, following similar moves by France, Britain and Canada.
The August 11 announcement came days after tens of thousands of people marched across Sydney’s iconic Harbor Bridge, calling for peace and aid deliveries to Gaza, where Israel began an offensive nearly two years ago after the Hamas militant group launched a deadly cross-border attack.
Palestinian authorities say the conflict has claimed the lives of more than 60,000 people in Gaza, while humanitarian organizations say a shortage of food is leading to widespread starvation.

KYIV: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrived in Kyiv on Sunday to mark Ukrainian independence day as world leaders push for an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia.
“On this Ukrainian Independence Day, and at this critical moment in their nation’s history, Canada is stepping up our support and our efforts toward a just and lasting peace for Ukraine,” Carney wrote on X as he touched down in the capital.

Carney was invited to Kyiv as a “special guest,” to mark the occasion, Canadian broadcaster CBC reported.
“Canada’s support for Ukraine is unwavering and we are with you every step of the way, in your fight to defend your sovereignty, and to realize your dreams for your country,” Carney said in a video posted on his X account shortly after arrival in Kyiv.
His visit to the war-torn country came as Russian forces continue to make slow gains in the withering three-year conflict, with Moscow announcing Saturday that it had taken two villages in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
Carney’s visit also comes as prospects fade for a summit between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents — a solution championed by US President Donald Trump as part of his efforts to end the war.
Most recently, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa joined the chorus calling for a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymir Zelensky.