Over a thousand people demonstrated on Friday in Montevideo in solidarity with the Palestinian people, while Israel continues its bombing of the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, in response to the unprecedented attack carried out by the movement on October 7th.

The demonstrators, estimated to be between 1,500 and 2,000 people according to organizers, gathered in the city center holding banners that read, “Stop the gunfire! Stop the genocide!” They called for allowing humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip and providing United Nations protection for the residents of the region.

The Palestinian Ambassador to Uruguay, who led the march, told AFP, “A child is killed every 15 minutes by Israeli bombs! We must stop this, not only for the Palestinian people but for everyone, for peace.”

She added, “This is a matter of human rights and justice. No country can be above international law,” thanking the people of Uruguay for their support.

Leaders of labor unions, humanitarian organizations, students, women’s groups, and opposition politicians to President Luis Lacalle Pou’s center-right government also waved Palestinian flags, donned keffiyehs, or raised banners with “Palestinian lives matter too” written on them.

Israel pledged to “crush Hamas” after its fighters launched a deadly attack on Israeli towns along the Gaza border on October 7, resulting in the deaths of over 1,400 people, mostly Israeli civilians.

In response to this, Israeli airstrikes destroyed wide areas of Gaza in preparation for an imminent ground invasion, according to Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Gaza authorities report that 4,137 Palestinians were killed during the attack, the majority of them civilians.