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NYC 'Free Palestine' protesters overtake streets of Midtown Manhattan
By Stephanie Pagones
Published May 18, 2021
A protest calling for "Free Palestine" took over a busy street in New York City’s Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon, when videos showed demonstrators chanting and holding Palestinian flags.
Hundreds of protesters took to Second Avenue in Manhattan and made their way downtown shortly before 3 p.m. local time, according to police and social media posts. The New York Police Department told the public to expect delays and avoid the area.
According to a flyer that circulated on Twitter, the demonstration was called an "Emergency Rally to Defend Palestine" and began at 1 p.m. at the Zionist Mission to the United Nations, the Israeli Consulate.
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As of 3:10 p.m. police could not provide any information regarding any arrests made.
Fighting in the Middle East erupted on May 10, when Hamas fired seven rockets at Jerusalem following clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at a shrine considered holy to both Jews and Muslims. Since then, Palestinian militants have fired heavy barrages at cities deep inside Israel, and the Israeli military has carried out hundreds of strikes on targets in the Gaza Strip.
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This is the fourth Israel-Hamas war since the militants seized the Gaza Strip in 2007, driving out the Palestinian Authority, which administers autonomous enclaves in the occupied West Bank.
So far, at least 10 people have been killed in Israel, most from rocket fire. This includes a soldier, a 5-year-old boy and two people who died from injuries sustained while running for cover. Paramedics say at least 106 people suffered shrapnel and blast wounds.
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In Gaza, at least 212 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes, including 61 children and 36 women, with more than 1,400 people wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-york-city-free-palestine-protesters-israel-hamas