Pro-Palestinian protesters gather in New York City for Gaza

Protesters gathered Monday at Union Square in New York City to demonstrate against Israel's ongoing war in the Gaza Strip and express solidarity with Palestinians. Waving Palestinian flags, they chanted slogans such as 'Free, free Palestine' and 'Gaza is watching us.' Officers from the New York Police Department (NYPD) stood between two lines of steel barriers between supporters of Palestine and Israel. The demonstration later moved into the metro station. 'Gaza! Gaza!' protesters chanted as they flooded the subway station, which saw a temporary shutdown. Tightening security, police officers arrested some demonstrators. Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire. More than 37,100 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and nearly 84,700 others injured, according to local health authorities. Eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine. Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in the southern city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.