By SM Najmus Sakib
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - Protesters gathered Monday near the US Embassy in Dhaka to condemn the ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip and Washington’s support for Israeli forces, including the supply of weapons.
A large number of participants, including students from nearby private universities, assembled at various points close to the embassy in the capital's Gulshan neighborhood.
Security forces, including police and military personnel, set up barricades in the area.
Demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Free Free Palestine,” “Trump is a terrorist,” and “Who are we, who are you, Palestine, Palestine.”
Civilians marched through parts of Dhaka carrying Palestinian flags and placards condemning Israel and the US.
Hundreds of students from Dhaka University and private universities also staged demonstrations on their campuses in solidarity with the global “The World Stops for Gaza” campaign.
The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party held a large protest march in Dhaka, where hundreds of thousands joined the rally outside the Baitul Mukarram mosque.
The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) released a statement denouncing Israel’s war on Gaza. Its student wing, Jatiotabadi Chatradal, organized campus protests to show solidarity.
The Bangladesh Foreign Ministry issued a statement Monday condemning what it called the Israeli forces’ ongoing mass killings and severe human rights violations in Gaza.
The statement said Israel’s continued military operations since last month’s unilateral breach of the ceasefire have killed scores of Palestinians.
"Evidently, Israel has shown no regard for repeated international appeals and has instead engaged in an increasingly intense killing spree," it added.