London/Amman/Gaza City, Gaza Strip ¨C Pro-Palestinian demonstrators staged protests in London, Berlin, Paris, Ankara, Istanbul and Washington on Saturday to call for a cease-fire in Gaza and castigate Israel after its military intensified its assault against Hamas.
The protests came as the United States and its Arab allies appeared divided over Israel¡¯s military offensive in Gaza, as Washington, alongside Israel, resisted pressure for an immediate cease-fire despite the rising death toll among Palestinian civilians.
In a rare display of a public split, Arab foreign ministers at a news conference the same day pushed U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to persuade Israel to agree to a cease-fire. The top U.S. diplomat, however, dismissed the idea, saying such a halt would only benefit Hamas, allowing the militant Islamist Palestinian group to regroup and attack again.
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