In a display of solidarity with Palestinians, approximately three thousand people took to the streets of Madrid, Spain, on Saturday, demanding an immediate ceasefire in the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas movement in Gaza.
The demonstration, which included about three thousand participants, saw a procession under the sun along closed streets in the Spanish capital from Atocha train station to the central Plaza del Sol square, behind a large banner reading “Freedom for Palestine.”
Many carried Palestinian flags and banners with messages such as “Peace for Palestine” and “Do not ignore the suffering of Palestinians.” Notably, six ministers from Pedro Sanchez’s government, five from the leftist Podemos party, along with Transport Minister Oscar Pointy from the Socialist Party, joined the march.
Pointy stated at the outset of the rally, “We need an immediate cessation of hostilities and an end to the killing and attacks on innocents. We must achieve the release of all hostages.”
The number of pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Madrid on Saturday was significantly lower than the 20,000 participants in a rally witnessed in the Spanish capital on January 27. Some chanted, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” and “Not a war, but a genocide.”
Israel believes that around 130 hostages are still held in Gaza following the attack launched by Hamas on October 7, resulting in the deaths of about 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to figures compiled by Agence France-Presse based on official Israeli figures.
Dozens of hostages who were detained during the attack were released, estimated at about 250 hostages, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners during a ceasefire that lasted a week in November. Israel estimates that 30 of the hostages remaining in Gaza have been killed.
On the other hand, at least 28,858 people, mostly women and children, were killed in the Israeli attack on Gaza, according to the Hamas-affiliated Ministry of Health.