Protests against Israel's war in Gaza have repeatedly drawn thousands of people in Morocco since the conflict began more than two months ago, mostly led by pan-Arab and Islamist groups.
The protesters were called to the streets by a disparate group of organizations backing the Palestinians, including left-wingers and members of the Islamist Justice and Charity movement.
They marched along Mohammed V Avenue in the heart of the city, beneath banners declaring "stop the war of extermination in Gaza, stop normalization."
The crowd chanted slogans lauding the "resistance of the Palestinian people" and directed particular fury at the United States for its support of Israel's war against Hamas.
Hachimi Damni, a 62-year-old protester, said he had come to express his opposition to the bombing in Gaza and normalization with Israel.
"When you bomb massively without distinction between military targets and civilians, including babies — that is a genocide. We must call a spade a spade," Jihane, a 27-year-old protester told AFP.
Israel rejects accusations of genocide, has expressed regrets for civilian deaths but blames Hamas by launching the October 7 attack.
Reuters reports that most of the 10,000 protesters appeared to be Islamists with men marching separately from women, waving Palestinian flags and holding placards reading "resistance till victory", "stop Moroccan government normalization with Israel" and "free Palestine."
Morocco agreed to strengthen ties with Israel in 2020, under a deal brokered by the U.S. administration under then President Donald Trump’s "Abraham Accords" initiative that also included Washington recognizing Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara.
Protesters in Sunday's march also called for a boycott of brands they accuse of supporting Israel.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, which has ruled Gaza since 2007, after the group’s militants burst across the border fence on October 7 and went on a rampage through Israeli towns, killing 1,200 people and abducting some 240 hostages.
Since then, Gaza's Hamas-run health authorities say more than 20,000 people have been confirmed killed in Israeli strikes and a ground offensive, with thousands more missing and presumed dead under the rubble.
U.S. officials urged Israel to protect Palestinian civilians but so far have not called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Despite their policy of normalizing ties with Israel, Moroccan authorities have continued to back the creation of a Palestinian state and have urged a cease-fire in Gaza and the protection of civilians.
Although Morocco and Israel have not yet completed the process of setting up full embassies in each other's countries as they agreed, they have moved closer together, signing a defense cooperation pact.
Some information in this report came from AFP
Forum