SAN FRANCISCO– Police on Monday detained pro-Palestinian protesters occupying the lobby of a San Francisco building that houses the Israeli consulate.
It was not immediately clear how many people were being held, but an Associated Press journalist saw police tying the hands of at least a dozen people with zip ties. Officers then put them in a police van and drove them away.
A group of pro-Palestinian protesters entered the building and occupied it for hours on Monday. The demonstrators placed signs on the front doors of the building calling for an end to the action Israel-Hamas war.
Police officers issued multiple warnings and ordered protesters to leave before they moved in and began detaining people, San Francisco police said in a statement. It was not specified how many people were detained.
Consul General of Israel in the Pacific Northwest Marco Sermoneta said the demonstrators arrived at the Financial District high-rises around 9 a.m. but did not enter the consulate offices. He said his office was telling people they might have to change their appointments.
San Francisco police officers stood guard outside the building and told an AP journalist that it was not open to the public.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the protesters said they planned to stay until they were “forcibly removed.” At 11:45 a.m., about six San Francisco police vehicles were parked around the corner from the consulate, along with about six other officers and an ambulance from the San Francisco Fire Department.
Photos and videos of the protesters posted on social media showed people sitting in a circle chanting “Free, free Palestine!” chanted.
Israel has experienced growth international criticism for his strategy of systematic destruction in Gaza, op an enormous cost item in the lives of citizens. Israeli bombings and ground offensives in the besieged area have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians. This is reported by the Gaza Ministry of Healthin which no distinction is made between combatants and civilians.
The highest court of the United Nations has decided there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza – an accusation Israel strongly denies.
