More than 1,500 pro-Palestinian protesters called for a ceasefire in Gaza on the steps of the New York Public Library in midtown Manhattan on Thursday.

/”Ceasefire now! End all US funding for Israel and lift the siege on Gaza now,/” said a Palestinian Youth Movement organizer. /”Now is the moment for the world to take action against the genocide of Palestinians./”

/”You do not have to be Palestinian to understand that the slaughter of almost 5,000 children is unacceptable and a war crime,/” said actress Susan Sarandon. /”It’s time to have an open heart, it’s time to be strong, and it’s time that Palestine be free, but there is no freedom until everyone is free./”

Palestinian officials said 10,812 Gaza residents had been killed as of Thursday, about 40 percent of them children, in air and artillery strikes. A humanitarian catastrophe has unfolded as basic supplies run out and wounded people overwhelm a fragile medical system.

The White House said on Thursday that Israel agreed to pause military operations in parts of north Gaza for four hours a day, but there was no sign of a let-up in the fighting that has killed thousands and laid waste to the seaside enclave.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested any pauses would be scattered, and there was no official confirmation of a plan for recurring breaks.

On the ground in northern Gaza, there were no reports of a lull in fighting. Israeli forces have encircled Gaza City and its tanks are advancing into the heart of the city as they hunt Hamas militants. Each side reported inflicting heavy casualties on the other in intense street battles.

Israel unleashed its assault on Gaza in response to a cross-border Hamas raid on southern Israel on Oct. 7 in which gunmen killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took about 240 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel says it has lost 33 soldiers in Gaza.

(Production: Hussein Al Waaile, Roselle Chen)

Subscribe to the ABS-CBN News channel! – http://bit.ly/TheABSCBNNews

Watch full episodes on iWantTFC for FREE here:
http://iwanttfc.com

Visit our website at http://news.abs-cbn.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abscbnNEWS
Twitter: https://twitter.com/abscbnnews
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abscbnnews

Take the opportunity to connect and share this video with your friends and family if you find it useful.