Global protests continue calling for cease-fire amid Israel's war on Hamas

Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Protests continued across the world over the first weekend in 2024 amid Israel's war on Hamas.

In Ireland, thousands of people demonstrated across the island nation Saturday and Sunday in support of the Palestinians, with the largest protests in Belfast and Cork, The Irish News reported.

The Irish have a deep connection with Palestinians for having lived under British occupation for centuries until its partition in the 1920s and the independence of the Republic of Ireland. Many people in Northern Ireland, which remains a part of the United Kingdom, still seek independence from Britain.

Because of this, the Irish have held routine demonstrations throughout Israel's war in support of the Palestinians and condemning Israel for its violence that has left nearly 23,000 people dead in Gaza.

"We look at what happened in our country during the time when there was unrest -- education was the last bastion of hope for most people, it was the schools and the schoolteachers from across the north who kept children safe and schools were seen as places of safety," Mark McTaggart, a leader of the Irish National Teachers' Organization union, told The Irish News.

"Those chances and those life chances are being taken away from young people across in Palestine." McTaggart called on people in Ireland to boycott Israeli goods and companies.

"It's hard to even speak about this because it is so emotional, this is like witnessing the worst human rights atrocities of our times," said Naomi Sheehan, who demonstrated in Dublin.

"It's a silent genocide and we are hearing a deafening silence in terms of assigning appropriate accountability to the forces who are enabling this genocide."

And in London, hundreds of protesters conducted a sit-in protest on Westminster Bridge calling for a cease-fire on Saturday, The Guardian reported. The demonstrators also called for Britain to end arms sales to Israel.

In the United States, protesters in Seattle blocked traffic on a major interstate highway for hours, causing a six-mile backup, the Seattle Times reported. Protesters condemned President Joe Biden for being quick to give Israel "money for bombs" while he fails to address student debt relief and the housing crisis.

Meanwhile, it was revealed Sunday that Israel conducted an air strike on a vehicle carrying two journalists. Dozens of reporters have been killed by Israel amid its war.