A large crowd gathered at Queens Gardens, in Brisbane, on Sunday to hear 10 speakers demand an "end to Israel's genocide in Gaza, to the apartheid occupation of Palestine, and to Israel's assaults on Lebanon and the West Bank".
Organisers Justice for Palestine Magan-djin called the peaceful protest to "honour the victims of the expanded genocide and Labor's complicity".Â
Pro-Palestine crowds rally in Brisbane
Queensland Greens candidate for Moreton Remah Naji invited a 10-year-old boy named Raza to the stage to talk about the horror of seeing children killed in the widening conflict.
"I want to share all of what I have witnessed in just the past year," he told the crowd, while other speakers cried as they recalled family members who had died in Gaza.
Chants synonymous with pro-Palestine protests across the world were heard including "ceasefire now" and "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" as well as "always was, always will be Aboriginal land".
The full length of Victoria Bridge was awash with protesters as many of those gathered then marched through the city centre to the ABC's headquarters at South Bank to urge "fair and just media coverage of the atrocities".
Some carried Palestinian flags, others Lebanese flags in response to the ongoing Israeli military assault in Lebanon.
International leaders have raised their concern at the intensified conflict between Israeli forces and Hezbollah after three United Nations peacekeepers were wounded when Israeli strikes shook the main base in southern Lebanon in recent days.
The peaceful protest came as the federal government winds down repatriation flights from Lebanon. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS)
Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) confirmed on Sunday that 2748 Australians and their family members had now departed Lebanon on repatriation flights.
The department confirmed it had drawn a line on scheduling further flights from the country after Sunday.
Interest in free seats out of Beirut declined sharply in recent days with fewer than 300 aboard two flights to Cyprus that departed on Saturday.
Those still in Lebanon wanting to leave will need to resort to local carrier Middle East Airlines or other commercial airlines.
One final Qantas flight is due to leave Cyprus on Wednesday evening but the Department of Foreign Affairs has signalled it is planning for further flights subject to demand.
The flights followed an escalation in Israel's year-long scuffle with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in recent weeks, with a campaign of intense bombings across Lebanon including its capital Beirut.
More than 2200 people have been killed and another 1.2 million have been displaced across a nation about the size of Greater Sydney.
20°C