Anti-Israel protests held at White House and across US after resumption of Gaza strikes
Demonstrations in New York, San Francisco, LA, Dallas and more, after Israel resumes attacks on terror targets
Anti-Israel protest groups held rallies outside the White House and across the United States on Tuesday, with more planned for Wednesday, after Israel renewed its air campaign against the Hamas terror group and its allies in Gaza, demanding the release of hostages.
The Palestinian Youth Movement announced protests in cities including Washington, New York, San Francisco, Dallas and Los Angeles.
The group’s New York branch shared videos of a crowd in Times Square chanting “End the Zionist occupation” and marching through Manhattan shouting “imperialism will fall.” The footage showed protesters holding banners with phrases and symbols frequently employed in Hamas propaganda.
The group also posted footage of protesters in front of the White House chanting, “Gaza, Yemen, make us proud, tear this occupation down.” The chant was an apparent reference to Hamas in Gaza and to the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen. Both terror groups, backed by Iran, are sworn to Israel’s destruction.
Other video from the White House showed protesters chanting in Arabic, “Raise, raise, raise the flag of the revolution!” and holding signs attributed to the “Party for Socialism and Liberation,” calling for an end to all US aid to Israel and support for “resistance to occupation.”
The protests came after the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a US-designated terror group, called on activists Tuesday to “take to the streets, to besiege the White House… to deliver a clear message to the murderers.”
“Gaza and its resistance will not be broken,” the group said in a message shared by anti-Israel activist groups in the US.
BREAKING: Thousands of protestors in NYC march through the streets, condemning Israel's attacks on Gaza and calling for a free Palestine pic.twitter.com/IvZmM9J1U2
— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) March 18, 2025
Within Our Lifetime — another anti-Israel group that has frequently praised the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught that started the ongoing war — called Tuesday for an “emergency protest for Gaza” the next day at a Trump Organization building in lower Manhattan.
“Over 400 Palestinians have been martyred and hundreds more wounded in less than 24 hours as the US empire & Zionist entity renew relentless bombing of Gaza and escalate the genocide during Ramadan,” the group said, using unverified figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Israel, demanding the release of hostages held in Gaza, launched dozens of airstrikes against Hamas targets early Tuesday, and said it killed several senior officials in the terror group, which functions as the de facto government of Gaza.
The army said strikes targeted cells of terror operatives, rocket-launching positions, weapons, and other Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror infrastructure.
The strikes ended a roughly two-month ceasefire period, after the sides, through mediators, reached a hostage release-truce deal in January.
The war in the Gaza Strip began on October 7, 2023, when some 5,000 terrorists, led by Hamas, invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages amid acts of brutality.
Israel responded with an air and ground offensive to destroy Hamas, free the hostages, and prevent a future security threat from Gaza.
Other Iran-backed terror groups — including Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen, and various militias in Iraq and Syria — as well as the Iranian regime itself, have also attacked Israel since the war’s outbreak, and Israel has responded with strikes on Iran and Yemen and a major offensive including a ground operation in southern Lebanon, which largely ended with a November 2024 ceasefire there.
Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are still holding 59 hostages, all but one of them abducted by Hamas-led terrorists on October 7, 2023. Twenty-four of them are known or presumed to be alive, while 35 have been confirmed dead by the IDF.
The Times of Israel Community.