Thousands gather for rare peace event in Jerusalem

Thousands gathered for a rare peace event in Jerusalem on Friday, with the Gaza war in its 20th month, the UN warning of humanitarian catastrophe and Palestinian militants still holding dozens of Israelis captive.

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In recent days, Israel has announced plans for an expanded military campaign in Gaza entailing the “conquest” of the Palestinian territory. Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said this meant that the Gaza Strip would be “entirely destroyed”.

“We cannot let the extremists on both sides that thrive over revenge, fear and hate also control our future,” said Maoz Inon, 50, an Israeli entrepreneur and peace activist who was one of the main organisers of Friday's “People’s Peace Summit”.

“Even though they are controlling our present and reality, we must choose an alternative and create and shape an alternative future,” he told AFP.

Friday's event was organised by a grouping of some 60 grassroots peace-building organisations working to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a political agreement.

At the event, former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and ex-Palestinian Authority foreign minister Nasser Al-Kidwa presented their proposal or peace, originally unveiled last year.

Kidwa, the nephew of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, joined via livestream from the occupied West Bank.