Headlines
Australia pro-Palestinian rally draws tens of thousands, scepticism on ceasefire
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on October 12, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on October 12, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
A pro-Palestinian rally in Sydney drew tens of thousands, with skepticism about the Gaza ceasefire. Organized by the Palestine Action Group, it reflects ongoing tensions.
SYDNEY (Reuters) -Tens of thousands joined a pro-Palestinian rally in Sydney on Sunday, organisers said, one of dozens of demonstrations across Australia, with some protesters expressing scepticism a ceasefire in Israel's two-year-old assault in Gaza would hold.
The organiser, the Palestine Action Group, estimated a crowd of 30,000 in Sydney, the nation's most populous city, one of about 27 nationwide. Police did not have a crowd estimate for the protest.
The Gaza ceasefire appeared to be holding early on Sunday and Israeli troops had pulled back under the first phase of a U.S.-brokered agreement to end the war, which has killed tens of thousands and left much of the narrow enclave in ruins.
"Even if the ceasefire holds, Israel is still conducting a military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank," Amal Naser, an organiser of the Sydney rally, said in a statement. "The occupation as well as systemic discrimination against Palestinians living in Israel constitute an Apartheid system."
Australian Broadcasting Corp footage showed protesters, many carrying Palestinian flags and wearing keffiyeh scarves, marching on closed city streets. Police said no arrests were made.
The rally was held in the business district after a court last week blocked a move to hold it at the Sydney Opera House.
Protester Abbi Jordan said she was at the rally because "this so-called ceasefire will not hold".
"Israel always breaks every ceasefire they've ever done. For 78 years, they've been conducting an illegal occupation in Palestinian territories, and we demand the Australian government sanction Israel," Jordan told Reuters.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for more than 200 Jewish organisations, condemned the protest organisers. "They want the deal to fail, which would mean the war would continue," co-Chief Executive Peter Wertheim said in a statement.
Pro-Palestinian protests have been common in Australia, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, since the war in Gaza erupted when militants of the Palestinian militant group Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis in an attack on October 7, 2023.
Gazan authorities say more than 67,000 people have been killed in Israel's military response, and much of the enclave has been flattened.
(Reporting by Sam McKeith and Cordelia Hsu in Sydney; Editing by Raku Gopalakrishnan and William Mallard)
Military occupation refers to the control of a territory by foreign armed forces, often without the consent of the local population.
Apartheid is a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race, historically associated with South Africa.
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