Thousands of people are demonstrating in Dublin city centre this afternoon in solidarity with Palestine.
Protesters are marching from the Garden of Remembrance to Leinster House.
Organisers say this is the tenth national demonstration in the last year, with other events happening all around the country.
The demonstration was organised by the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), supported by more than 160 Irish civil society groups.
Zak Hania, a Palestinian-Irish citizen, attended the march with his 12-year-old son Nour.
Mr Hania was trapped in Gaza for seven months and was reunited with his family here in May.
He said it indescribable what he experienced.
He said: “To be honest, every time I come here and see the people who are doing all kind of solidarity with Palestine, it heals me. It’s part of my cure and my healing of what we have seen.”
One Irish woman marching, Colette, said that the Government needs to enact the Occupied Territories Bill.
“I’m here today because I couldn’t think of anywhere else I’d want to be. In all honesty, it’s absolutely horrendous what’s going on,” she said.
“Look at the numbers out here today, the Irish people are speaking, and it’s about time our politicians start to listen,” she added.
The bill seeks to ban trade with illegal settlements in territories deemed occupied under international law.
Chairperson of the IPSC Zoe Lawlor told RTÉ News that passing the bill would “go a tiny way to upholding international law… to hold Israel accountable, and it would start the ball rolling, you know, some country in the EU has to be the first to take a stand.”
Sahar, who is a Jordian-Palestinian living in Ireland said it is “very important to not lose breath and to keep expressing our support and our refusal of what’s happening”.
“We can’t normalise that. Even if it’s been a year, if it’s been two years, we can’t let that be the new normal. I think Ireland is known as the most supportive country in Europe, with the Palestinian cause,” she said.
In Cork city, more than 700 people gathered in heavy rain, calling for a ceasefire in Palestine and Lebanon.
It is the 52nd week-in-a-row that people have taken to protest in the city centre, with shouts of “stop bombing hospitals, stop bombing healthcare. Healthcare is not a target”.
Arrests at London demonstration
In London, arrests were made as thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered ahead of the anniversary of the 7 October attacks in Israel.
Two people were arrested on suspicion of assaulting an emergency worker, the Metropolitan Police said, as part of a “significant” policing operation in place across the capital in response to planned protest and memorial events.
The force said the arrests were made when people tried to get past officers who had formed a cordon to stop any groups breaking away from the main protest.
The march came across counter-protests at the junction of Kingsway and Aldwych and at the junction of the Strand and Trafalgar Square, according to police.
Additional reporting Jennie O’Sullivan, Press Association
