‘Rally for Palestine’ to take place in Derry’s Guildhall Square on Saturday

The branch said the rally is part of ‘a global mobilisation for Gaza’.

In a statement, the local branch of the IPSC said: “All leading human rights organisations, the World Health Organisation and UNICEF have called on the Israeli government to end the siege of Gaza.

"There is no legal or moral justification for bombing schools and hospitals. It is barbarism for the Israeli State to starve 2.5 million people in the Gaza prison camp.

"Netanyahu [the Israeli Prime Minister and chairman of the Likud party, Benjamin] tells Palestinians to leave their homes and flee as his air force bomb their escape routes.”

The Derry IPSC issued the call after Hamas’ attack of October 7 in southern Israel which killed at least 1,300 Israelis and Israel’s bombardment and siege of Gaza which has killed at least 2,750 Palestinians.

The campaign called on the international community to take ‘urgent action to stop the Israeli aggression and hold it accountable for its violations of international law’.

"We also call on the Irish government to uphold its moral and legal obligations to support the Palestinian cause and to impose sanctions on Israel until it complies with its obligations under international law.

"The Israeli ambassador to Ireland must be expelled. We urge the Irish people to join the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and to boycott Israeli goods, services, institutions and cultural events,” it said.

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