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Hundreds arrested at Jewish US Capitol rally calling for Gaza ceasefire
(JTA) — At least 300 people were arrested at a Jewish-led rally in the U.S. Capitol calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and condemning Israel for a “potential genocide” of the territory.
The rally was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace and IfNotNow, two Jewish groups that have focused their criticism on Israel and accused it of genocide and other human rights violations since Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,400, wounding thousands and taking some 200 people captive. Israel has since declared war on Hamas, killing 3,200 in airstrikes on Gaza and wounding thousands.
The Washington rally, which organizers said drew a total of 10,000 people inside and outside the Capitol, came on the same day that President Joe Biden visited Israel in a show of support and negotiated humanitarian aid for Gaza civilians. Israel has called up hundreds of thousands of military reservists and is expected to launch a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip shortly.
“We shut down congress to draw mass attention to the U.S. complicity in Israel’s ongoing oppression of Palestinians,” JVP posted on X. “Just as we demand an end to genocide in Gaza, we must put the same effort into dismantling the systems of Zionism, apartheid, and colonialism that brought us to this moment.”
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who advocates for a boycott of Israel, spoke to the crowd outside the Capitol. During her comments, Tlaib, who is Palestinian-American, cried when decrying that “people think it’s OK to bomb a hospital,” an apparent allusion to an explosion at a Gaza hospital that Biden said he was convinced was caused by a Palestinian rocket misfire.
Reps. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, both also progressive Democrats allied with Tlaib, posted on X in support of the rally.
The rally follows a smaller one on Monday in Washington, sponsored by the same groups, where protesters were also arrested for blocking the entrances to the White House. The rallies come amid a string of pro-Israel rallies in cities across the country that have collectively drawn tens of thousands of supporters. Miriam Weisel, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League in Washington, said in a statement that “these far-left radical organizations do not represent the overwhelming majority of the Jewish community.”
Protesters sitting on the floor crowded the Capitol Rotunda, chanting “ceasefire now” and “not in our name,” and singing a famous Biblical verse that begins “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation.” The protest was infused with Jewish ritual — a hallmark of protests by IfNotNow, which was founded in 2014 to oppose Israel’s conduct during that year’s Gaza War and which frequently partners with JVP, an anti-Zionist group.
Protesters wore prayer shawls and at least one brought a shofar. One speaker, leading a call-and-response with the crowd, recited a traditional Jewish greeting to mourners, inserting “Al-Quds,” the Arabic term for Jerusalem, before the Hebrew name for the city. IfNotNow protests have featured recitations of the Mourner’s Kaddish, said on behalf of Israeli and Palestinian victims.
The arrests occurred because protests are not allowed in the Capitol, according to CBS,
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The post Hundreds arrested at Jewish US Capitol rally calling for Gaza ceasefire appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.