Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators hit the streets of Toronto

Thousands of people took to the streets of Toronto on Saturday to protest the ongoing war in the Middle East.

According to the Toronto Police Service, demonstrators began marching eastbound on College Street from University Avenue and made their way to Yonge-Dundas Square just after 2:00 p.m.

Officers warned residents to expect major traffic delays and to consider alternative routes of travel.

“Entire neighborhoods have been destroyed. Entire families have been wiped out of the Gaza Civil Registry because of Israel’s ongoing genocide and mass slaughter of innocent civilians,” said Farah Matar, spokesperson for the group Toronto4Palestine. “As a Palestinian from Gaza who cannot go back and see what her grandfather has built in Gaza, for her, I’m just outraged.”

“I’m embarrassed by Canada’s response,” she added.

Protesters who gathered at Yonge-Dundas Square are demanding the federal government sever international ties with Israel.

The rally was organized in part by several organizations, including the Palestinian Youth Movement.

A few kilometres away, another gathering was held at a site that stirred up controversy several months ago.

Demonstrators gathered at King’s College Circle on the University of Toronto campus for their own rally in support of Palestinian people.

Just months ago, the area became the site of a student encampment that lasted for nearly two months. Saturday’s gathering eventually turned into a march, with demonstrators waving signs and chanting along the downtown core.

The demonstrations come ahead of the one-year anniversary of the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel that resulted in the death of approximately 1,200 people and 250 others taken hostage.

Hamas is a Palestinian militant group which has governed over Gaza since 2007 and has been listed as a terrorist entity by the Government of Canada for over two decades.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack, Israel declared war on Hamas and responded with a barrage of rocketfire that has caused mass death and destruction in Gaza. Since the start of the war, more than 42,000 Palestinians have been killed and an estimated 92,000 have been injured, according to health officials in the occupied territories.

The United Nations estimates that more than half of the dead are women and children.

Over the last year, tensions have grown into a region-wide conflict between Israel, Lebanon, and Iran.

Israel and the militant group Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas’ cross-border attack.

Last month, pagers used by hundreds of Hezbollah members exploded almost simultaneously in parts of Lebanon as well as Syria. The attack killed at least 12 people — including two young children — and wounded thousands more. The operation is widely believed to have been carried out by Israel.

Then on Sept. 28, an Israeli airstrike killed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s longtime leader and one of the Iranian-backed group’s founding members. Iran retaliated in defence of their allies by sending 180 missiles into Israel that left residents scrambling for shelter.

Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said the country’s air defences intercepted many of the incoming Iranian missiles, though some landed in central and southern Israel. Israel’s national rescue service said two people were lightly wounded by shrapnel.

Nearly 2,000 people have been killed in Lebanon in the latest conflict, most of them since Sept. 23, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

As the first anniversary of the October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel approaches, authorities in the Greater Toronto Area are preparing for potential protests and acts of violence.

Toronto Police Service Chief Myron Demkiw announced last week that there will be an increased presence of undercover and uniformed officers throughout the city in the coming days.

Marked police vehicles will also be patrolling some communities with static red and blue lights to “enhance visibility.”

“In addition, three mobile command posts will be stationed in Jewish neighborhoods: one at Bathurst and Glencairn, another at Bathurst and Sheppard, and a third at Bathurst and Finch,” said Demkiw. “Additionally, a fourth mobile command post will be deployed to various mosques across the city.”

Police in Durham and York Region announced a similar move on Wednesday, saying they’ll be deploying more officers and command posts near faith-based institutions, schools and community centres.

With files from the Associated Press.