Today, pro-Palestinian protesters in New York City closed several bridges and a tunnel to demand an immediate ceasefire in the ongoing three-month conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. Local media reported that dozens of demonstrators sat in the streets, chanting slogans while obstructing traffic on the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges over the East River, as well as at the Holland Tunnel, which connects New York City to New Jersey via the Hudson River.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the Holland Tunnel, stated on its website that the passages leading to New Jersey are closed "due to police activity." A video posted on social media showed protesters chanting, "New York police, Ku Klux Klan, and the Israeli Defense Forces, they are all the same." At the Holland Tunnel, protesters displayed signs reading "Lift the blockade on Gaza," "Stop the fire immediately," and "End the occupation."
Organizations such as Jewish Voice for Peace, the Palestinian Youth Movement, and the Democratic Socialists of America in New York, among others, announced on the social media platform X that they are participating in organizing this protest. A video of one of the female protesters, who was being led away by police in handcuffs, showed her stating, "The blockade on Gaza must end."
Today, Palestinian health officials reported that the Israeli assault has so far resulted in the deaths of 23,084 Palestinians in Gaza, while Israel claims that Hamas still holds more than 100 hostages out of 240 people taken into the territory during the October 7 attack on Israeli towns, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people.
