Hundreds of Cubans, led by President Miguel Diaz-Canel and different leaders of the communist-run island, marched in Havana on Monday to precise solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
The demonstrators, together with some 250 Palestinian medical college students dwelling in Cuba, carried a big banner that learn “Lengthy dwell free Palestine,” whereas the president and his allies wore conventional keffiyeh scarves.
“We’re right here to assist the simply declare of the Palestinian individuals, for his or her sovereignty, their freedom (…) and in opposition to the genocidal campaign that Israel practices in direction of the Palestinian individuals,” Michel Marino, a 20-year-old worldwide relations scholar, advised AFP.
The march had been attributable to happen on the anniversary of the brutal assault by Hamas on Israel, but it surely was postponed attributable to Hurricane Milton, which lashed Cuba and Florida final week.
The October 7 assault, which triggered the warfare in Gaza, resulted within the deaths of 1,206 individuals, principally civilians, based on an AFP tally of official Israeli figures. That quantity contains hostages killed in captivity.
Out of 251 individuals taken hostage that day, 97 are nonetheless being held contained in the Gaza Strip, together with 34 who the Israeli army says are lifeless.
Israel’s retaliatory army marketing campaign in Gaza has killed 42,289 individuals, the bulk civilians, based on the well being ministry within the Hamas-run territory. The UN has described the figures as dependable.
“For a complete yr our Gaza has not had a single day of calm, not a single day of peace and our individuals within the West Financial institution endure each day aggression whereas the world stays paralyzed and unable to cease this tragedy,” stated Mohammed Suwan, a Palestinian scholar, as he addressed the individuals.
In June, the Caribbean island joined a lawsuit filed by South Africa in opposition to Israel earlier than the Worldwide Court docket of Justice (ICJ) over its army marketing campaign in Gaza.
