Hundreds join "Stop Starving Gaza" march in New York City
More than 200 organizations took part in the event, called "Stop Starving Gaza: Mass March for Humanity."
Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil kicked off the rally outside the New York Public Library near Bryant Park before those in attendance started marching across Manhattan.
Protesters called for an end to the Israel-Hamas war and for the United States to stop sending aid to Israel. People from across the country attended.
"As soon as we heard this was happening, we flew straight down," said Teela Segura, from Nevada. "No parent deserves to have their child hurt like this, to go through and not be able to feed their children. That's an atrocity."
The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) blasted the Trump administration for the State Department's announcement on X Saturday that it would halt visitor visas for individuals from Gaza while the department conducts "a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days."
"The children are starving. I've been involved. I've done humanitarian aid work," said Jim Keady, with New Jersey Peace Action and NJ CAIR. "Thousands and thousands of more people have died, and tens of thousands of people are now in threat of starvation."
The United Nations is warning that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began.
Meanwhile, Israel announced Saturday that it is preparing to move Palestinians from combat zones to southern Gaza as plans move ahead for a military offensive in some of the territory's most populated areas. The prime minister announced he will relocate Palestinians from Gaza City, which he calls Hamas' last stronghold, to so-called safe zones.
"He's a war criminal. You can't have a war criminal administering in Gaza and the West Bank. It's outrageous," Hudson resident Dr. Maria Assevero said.
Meanwhile, anxious families of Israeli hostages called for a Nationwide Day of Stoppage in Israel on Sunday to express growing frustration over 22 months of war.
They fear the expansion of war will further endanger the remaining 50 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to be alive and were recently seen on Hamas propaganda video, appearing emaciated.
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