Gaza suffering 'not over' warn Barcelona protesters

A pro-Palestine rally in Barcelona on Saturday welcomed the ceasefire after 15 months of the Israel-Gaza war but warned that "the suffering is not over."

"The people of the Gaza Strip are only celebrating that they are alive, that they can recover the bodies of their relatives, and that their children can dream of going back to school," said Mazeed Khaililla, a member of the Palestinian community in Catalonia.

"The end of the genocide is a joy for the people who have lived under the bombs, but we must continue to fight until the end of the occupation by the Zionist state of Israel," Khaililla said.

This march in the Catalan capital was held under the name of The Surge and also protested against the rise of the far right and the climate crisis.

The ceasefire in Gaza came into effect on Sunday morning after a three-hour delay.

Pro-Palestine and anti-capitalist

The demonstration in Barcelona on Saturday began at Jardinets de Gràcia and went along Passeig de Gràcia to Plaça de Catalunya.

Around 800 people took part, according to local police. Organizers put the figure at over 5,000.

Barcelona was one of 28 European cities that joined the The Surge movement "for climate justice, the liberation of Palestine and against fascism."

"We must make it clear that the fight against the environmental crisis, the genocide in Palestine, and fascism must go together as they are a consequence of the violence of the capitalist system and fueled by the global elites," said Virginia Soler, spokesperson for The Surge.

"You can't fight fascism without ending all wars or addressing climate chaos. We are facing a global emergency that requires a unified response," said Soler, who condemned Israel's "intolerable impunity" in its dealings with Palestine.