Hundreds rally in downtown Seattle as Israel-Hamas war continues

SEATTLE — A group of people rallied in downtown Seattle Saturday to call for a ceasefire from the Israeli military, and to free people being held captive by Hamas.

There were many signs at the Westlake Center Saturday with messages including, "end all U.S. Aid to Israel," and “stop the genocide, end the occupation,” and “free Palestine.”

Counter-protesters were not seen at this rally, however, a woman who did not want to be on camera spoke to KOMO News crews and angrily questioned how people could be in support of this message when so many have died at the hands of Hamas. She added that she knows people in Israel who were victimized.

“There’s probably a range of views here,” Justin with the organization Socialist Alternative said. “From my position, and Socialist Alternative, we don’t support the actions that Hamas took in terms of terrorist action against regular Israeli civilians, which was brutal and only gave a pretext for the Israeli regime to now kill even more Palestinians. We think the most effective way for Palestinian liberation, the way forward is working class solidarity of regular Palestinians and Israelis to fight back against the regime and establish real justice.”

The crowd of hundreds marched from Westlake through downtown streets, but not before verbal arguments ensued from drivers who wanted demonstrators to stop blocking the roads.

No physical altercations or acts of violence were observed by KOMO News crews. There was also a large Seattle police presence at the location.

“Hopefully we can keep organizing going forward,” Justin said.

The rally came two weeks after the initial Hamas surprise attacks on Israel that happened on Oct. 7, 2023. Since the initial attacks, the Israeli government has formally declared war and taken significant military steps to retaliate against Hamas.

RELATED | Israel declares war, bombards Gaza and battles to dislodge Hamas fighters after surprise attack

The Associated Press (AP) reported that Israel plans to increase strikes on Gaza soon. AP quoted an Israeli military spokesperson who said the strikes would begin Saturday. Israel hasn’t started its expected ground offensive to root out the Hamas terrorist group, which has ruled Gaza for 16 years.

According to the Israel Defense Forces, the death toll from the conflict has passed 1,400 and continues to rise. Israel said Hamas is still holding at least 210 civilian hostages. Thousands of people are wounded on both sides of the conflict.

The border crossing between Egypt and Gaza was recently opened to let a number of those desperately needing aid into the besieged Palestinian territory for the first time since Israel sealed it off after the initial Hamas' attacks.

RELATED | Egypt's border crossing opens to let a trickle of aid into besieged Gaza

More than 200 trucks, carrying roughly 3,000 tons of aid, were positioned near the crossing for days to help Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians, half of whom have fled their homes, are rationing food, and drinking dirty water.

Only 20 trucks were allowed in at the border, an amount that aid workers said was insufficient to address the unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Israel had insisted that nothing would enter Gaza until Hamas released all of the captives from its attack, and the Palestinian side of the crossing had been shut down by Israeli airstrikes.

Information from The Associated Press and The National Desk was used in this article.