Pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli crowds rally across world

ON EVE OF OCTOBER 7 ANNIVERSARY

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PARIS: Crowds were participating in pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protests and memorial events across the world on Sunday on the eve of the first anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel.

Sunday's events follow massive rallies that took place Saturday in several European cities, including London, Berlin, Paris and Rome. Other events are scheduled through the week, with an expected peak on Monday, the date of the anniversary.

In Australia, thousands of people on Sunday protested in support of Palestinians and Lebanon in various cities, while a pro-Israeli rally also took place in Melbourne.

Samantha Gazal, who came to the rally in Sydney, said she was there "because I can't believe our government is giving impunity to a violent extremist nation and has done nothing. We're watching the violence play out on livestream, and they're doing nothing."

In Melbourne, supporters of Israel held up posters showing Israeli hostages who are still missing.

"We feel like we didn't do anything to deserve this," said Jeremy Wenstein, one of the participants. "We're just supporting our brothers and sisters who are fighting a war that they didn't invite."