Hundreds block San Francisco airport terminal calling for permanent Gaza ceasefire

Hundreds of anti-war protesters demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and calling for an end to US military assistance for Israel blocked the international terminal at the San Francisco International Airport on Wednesday.

Footage from the scene showed protesters carrying banners with messages such as “Permanent Ceasefire Now,” “Stop the World for Gaza” and “Stop Arming Israel.” An ABC News affiliate put the number of demonstrators at more than 300.

“We do not want to be here. We are forced to be here because we have lost count of the petitions we’ve sent, the emails we’ve sent, of the meetings we’ve had with our congresspeople, of the days we’ve marched through the streets begging our government to hear the millions of voices for ceasefire,” said a protester, in footage shared by AJ+ reporter Dena Takruri on X.

Protests demanding an end to the war in Gaza have occurred in many US cities in recent months, including near airports and bridges in New York City and Los Angeles, vigils outside the White House, and marches in Washington.

This month, large protests were seen ahead of US President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address and the Oscars. Demonstrators have regularly interrupted Biden’s campaign events and speeches.

Airport officials said the international terminal remained open, but passengers were re-routed around the activity. Activists blocked the roadway outside the airport, marched in circles, and chanted slogans.

HAPPENING NOW: Pro Palestine protesters have shut down a security gate at San Francisco International Airport demanding a ceasefire now pic.twitter.com/LnZlzPeTQt

— Dena Takruri (@Dena) March 13, 2024

Passengers planning to reach the terminal were told to get dropped off at the rental car center and take an air train to the terminal. There were no known flight delays.

Some travelers expressed their disapproval of the protest.

“It’s not right,” Kamaljit Singh told KTVU, Fox’s San Francisco outlet. “It’s inconvenient. “If they want attention, they should march at the White House.”

BREAKING: Palestine solidarity activists have shut down the San Francisco International Airport.

Activists are disrupting traffic and blocking gates using banners that say "Stop the World for Gaza," "Permanent Ceasefire Now" and "Stop Arming Israel." pic.twitter.com/8CRr4MLtJ2

— BreakThrough News (@BTnewsroom) March 13, 2024

The war began on October 7, when thousands of Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israel under a barrage of rockets fired at population centers all over the country. They brutally killed 1,200 people, including cases of torture and rape, and seized 253 hostages. Israel swiftly declared war on Hamas, vowing to topple the terror group’s regime in Gaza and free the hostages, 130 of whom are still held captive by Hamas.

The Israel Defense Forces has since overrun most of the Palestinian enclave, alongside intense airstrikes, in a campaign that has killed over 31,000 people, according to Hamas-run Gaza health authorities. These numbers cannot be independently verified and are believed to include over 13,000 terror operatives who were killed in battle as well as Gazans who were killed by terror groups’ misfired rockets. The IDF also killed more than 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on and immediately after October 7.

While the United States has called for a temporary ceasefire to send more aid to Gaza and get hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 released, it has rejected calls for a permanent ceasefire, saying such a step would let Hamas regroup.

Israel has rejected Hamas’s demand for an end to the war as a condition for a hostage release deal as “delusional.”