Tens of thousands of protesters rallied across the Middle East and beyond on Friday in support of Palestinians and condemnation of Israel as it intensified its strikes on Gaza in retaliation for Hamas assaults.
Jewish communities in France and elsewhere were also holding rallies in solidarity with Israel after the cross-border Hamas assault from Gaza.
The attack on Oct 7 was the deadliest killing spree against Israeli civilians in the country's 75-year history.
France and Germany banned pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
Several Western countries said they had stepped up security at synagogues and Jewish schools fearing that protests could lead to acts of violence.
Hamas, which rules Gaza, urged Palestinians to rise up in protest against Israel's bombardment of the blockaded coastal enclave.
The militant group also called on Palestinians to march on Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem and confront Israeli troops in the occupied West Bank.
The compound in East Jerusalem's walled Old City is Islam's third holiest site after Mecca and Medina, and the most sacred to Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount.
Hamas is designated a terrorist organisation by the United States, European Union and other governments.
Last weekend's assault by the group on Israeli communities killed at least 1,300 people.
Israel has since been hammering densely populated Gaza with air strikes and artillery fire and some 1,800 Palestinians have been killed.
A ground invasion of the besieged enclave appears to be imminent.
There has been strong support and sympathy for Israel from Western governments and many citizens over the Hamas attacks.
But the Israeli response has also prompted anger, particularly in the Arab and Muslim world.
Pain on both sides
In Baghdad on Friday, tens of thousands of Iraqis rallied in central Tahrir Square, waving Palestinian flags and burning the Israeli flag while chanting anti-US and anti-Israeli slogans.
"We are ready to join the fight and rid the Palestinians of the Israeli atrocities," said Mr Muntadhar Kareem, 25, a teacher.
He was dressed in a white shroud, like most of the protesters, to symbolise their readiness to fight to the death.
State-organised rallies were held across Iran - whose government is Hamas's main backer and one of Israel's principal foes - in support of the militant group and against the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, state TV reported.
"Death to Israel. Death to Zionism!" demonstrators shouted, many carrying Palestinian flags and those of the powerful Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah deputy chief Naim Qassem spoke at a rally where hundreds of people had gathered in solidarity with Palestinians.
He said the party was "fully ready" to contribute to the fighting.
The group has already clashed with Israel across the Lebanese border in the past week.
Other rallies were organised in Palestinian camps as well as Lebanese cities where Hezbollah has a strong presence.
In Indonesia, Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, the suspected mastermind of the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, joined dozens of people in a march against Israel in the Javanese city of Solo.
"We cannot be weak in facing Israel," he said in a speech to protesters waving Palestinian flags.
In the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, activists protested against Israel's actions after Friday prayers at the main mosque.
Members of Japan's Muslim community demonstrated near the Israeli embassy in Tokyo, holding signs and chanting "Israel, terrorist" and "Free Palestine".
In Sri Lanka, protesters held up signs saying, "Palestine you will never walk alone".
Protesters also took to the streets in India's Kashmir region, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Egypt.
Pro-Palestinian rallies were planned in several European cities for later on Friday.
Pro-Israel rallies
On the other side of the conflict, Jewish people were also due to hold rallies in support of Israel in European cities.
In Warsaw, the Chief Rabbi of Poland, Michael Schudrich, was scheduled to lead a multi-confessional prayer for peace. Members of France's Jewish community were to gather at the largest synagogue in Paris for the Sabbath on Friday afternoon.
In Paris on Thursday night, French police had fired teargas and water cannon to break up a banned rally in support of the Palestinians, while President Emmanuel Macron urged people to refrain from bringing the Israel-Hamas conflict to France.
His government had earlier banned pro-Palestinian protests, saying they were likely to lead to public disorder.
In the US, law enforcement agencies have taken measures to safeguard Jewish and Muslim communities ahead of pro-Palestinian protests.
In the Netherlands, Jewish schools were closed on Friday for safety reasons, while in London two Jewish schools also shut due to security concerns.
Britain has seen a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks since the war erupted, the Jewish charity Community Security Trust said.
In Berlin, home to one of the largest Palestinian diasporas outside the Middle East, police refused to authorise a pro-Palestinian demonstration, while security measures for Jewish institutions such as synagogues were stepped up.
Some other German states imposed a blanket ban on pro-Palestinian demonstrations.
In Portugal, security agencies said they were reinforcing protection around Jewish sites after the fence of the synagogue in Porto was vandalised with graffiti saying "Free Palestine" and "End Israel Apartheid".
'Thousands rally in London in solidarity with Palestinians
Attendees, who gathered near BBC News' headquarters through the morning, began a march through the British capital ahead of an afternoon rally near parliament and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Downing Street office and residence.
Some displayed Palestinian flags and placards -- bearing slogans including "freedom for Palestine", "end the massacre" and "sanctions for Israel" -- as they made their way towards the end-point for a series of planned speeches.
"I think all just people around the world, not just in Britain, must stand up and call for this madness (to end)," Ismail Patel, chairman of the Friends of Al-Aqsa campaign, told AFP at the demonstration
"Otherwise, in the next few days, (we) might see a catastrophe unfolding."
The rally comes as Israel intensifies its war to destroy Hamas' capability, relentlessly pounding the Gaza Strip and deploying tens of thousands of soldiers nearby ahead of an expected ground offensive in the enclave.
That follows last Saturday's attack by Hamas, which saw hundreds of its fighters cross the Israeli border to take hostages and kill more than 1,000 civilians on the streets, in their homes or at a rave party.
Ahead of the London protest, the city's Metropolitan Police Service said it would deploy more than 1,000 officers, as the events thousands of miles away reverberate in Britain and elsewhere.
'Message'
Police and the government have noted a spike in UK anti-Semitic crime and incidents since the Hamas assault, while officers in Sussex, southeast England, arrested a 22-year-old woman Friday suspected of having made a speech backing Hamas.
A banned terrorist organisation in Britain, its members -- or those found guilty of inviting support for it -- can be jailed for up to 14 years under UK law.
The Met said this week that general expressions of support for Palestinians, including flying the Palestinian flag, were not criminal offences but reiterated that supporting Hamas is a crime.
Ferouza Namaz, 34, a student from Uzbekistan, joined the London protest, arguing that civilians in Gaza are "absolutely innocent".
"Just being Palestinian does not give the rights to kill them. These appalling atrocities have been taking place for so many years," he added.
Israel insists it does not deliberately target civilians in the Gaza Strip or other Palestinian territories.
But Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in Britain, told AFP its response to Hamas's attack was "dehumanising Palestinians" and unfairly blaming civilians for terrorism.
He attended the rally to send "a message of solidarity to the Palestinian people, and particularly today to the Palestinian people in Gaza, who are under bombardment, who are under siege with the cutting off of all food".
Jamal noted that those present were also conveying a message to UK political leaders, who he accused of "giving permission for Israel to commit acts of war crime".
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