It comes days after Belgium announced it would impose sanctions against Israel and recognise Palestine at the UN General Assembly later this month, protest organisers say this is the result of public pressure, and urge demonstrators to keep taking to the streets,
Euronews reports.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators wearing red gathered in Brussels on Sunday to protest against the Israeli government and to draw a symbolic red line against its war in Gaza. Protesters are also calling on EU member states to take a tougher stance and impose firm sanctions against Israel.
Local police estimated around 70,000 demonstrators took part in the second edition of Brussels' 'Red Line for Gaza' march, but protest organisers estimate 110,000 people attended the march across the Belgian capital, which was 3.5 kilometres long.
More than 200 human rights groups and aid agencies, including Oxfam, Doctors without Borders, Amnesty International, Greenpeace, Save the Children, and more, participated and are drawing the red line.
The protest comes days after Belgium announced it would join the United Kingdom and France in recognising a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, and would impose sanctions against Israel, under certain conditions.
"The compromise that the government reached would never have been there if we would not have had the previous march and launched Oxfam's 'Speak up for Palestine' campaign, now with 100,000 signatures," Katrien Van der Heyden, Teamleader Education at Oxfam Belgium told Euronews, emphasising the importance maintaining public pressure on EU politicians.
