Thousands demonstrated in Greece’s capital Athens on Wednesday on the Israel-Hamas war – including the country’s first small pro-Israel public gathering since the start of the conflict.

Police said some 10,000 people responded to a call by Communist-affiliated labour unions in solidarity with the Palestinian people, one of several held this month.

Marching behind a massive Palestinian flag, the crowd chanted “There can be no peace without justice” and “This crime has a signature, NATO, EU and Israelis.”

The protest culminated at the Israeli embassy, where a cordon of riot police briefly fired tear gas at protesters who got too close and banged on their shields.

Around 100 people had earlier gathered outside the embassy in a demonstration organised by the Israel-Greece Friendship Association, an AFP reporter said, but the two groups did not meet.

Demonstrators holding Israeli flags take part during a demonstration in support of Israel, outside the Israeli Embassy in Athens, on October 18, 2023. Photo: Angelos Tzprtzinis/AFP

“We call on the entire democratic world to express solidarity, demanding justice for the thousands of innocents who were murdered, but also the immediate release of the hostages held by Hamas,” the association organisers had said on Facebook.

Greece’s government was quick to support Israel after Hamas militants killed 1,400 people and took nearly 200 hostages in cross-border attacks on October 7.

Greek left-wing parties and media have taken a more pro-Palestinian approach, criticising what they call the long-term “occupation” of Palestinian territory and blaming the EU and US for their support of Israel.

Other pro-Palestinian protests were taking place Wednesday in Greece’s main cities.

Riot police officers fire tear gas at protesters during a rally in support of Palestinians, outside the outside the Israeli Embassy in Athens on October 18, 2023. Photo: Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Wednesday said Israel had suffered a “savage terrorist attack, the likes of which we have not seen before in the Middle East,” but added that Greece had made a clear distinction between Hamas and the Palestinian people.

“Israel is obligated to respect international law and react within the rules of armed conflict,” Mitsotakis told ANT1 television.

“Revenge does not become organised states,” he said.

The prime minister also expressed “anguish and horror” over a Tuesday rocket strike on a hospital in Gaza that killed hundreds.

Arab countries blamed Israel, which in turn said the hospital was hit by an Islamic Jihad rocket that misfired.

Source: AFP