BRUSSELS

A march in support of Palestine that began on Jan. 20 in Paris ended in Brussels in front of the European Council building, where a meeting of leaders was being held Thursday.

The demonstrators gathered in Schuman Square and chanted slogans such as "Free Palestine," "Israel is killing the children of Palestine," "Stop the genocide" and "Long live the struggle of the Palestinian people."

They demanded from European Union leaders a cease-fire in Gaza, economic and political sanctions against Israel and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

Omar Alsoumi, one of the organizers of the march, told Anadolu that the EU has a "clear responsibility to stop this genocide, to stop trade deals with Israel and to reach a cease-fire as soon as possible.”

"Our people are now starving. The starvation and the bombardment continue," he added.

Elias d'Imzalene said: "We are here to tell the Palestinian people that we will always stand with them against this genocide supported by European governments."

Fabienne Minsart from Brussels said she is "disgusted" by what is happening in Gaza and added: "I am shocked to see what Western countries allow."

Additionally, Irish Member of the European Parliament Mick Wallace showed support for the demonstrators.

In his speech at the site, Wallace emphasized that EU member states, the US and the UK are completely indifferent to the situation in Gaza.

"They have not even called for a cease-fire. They only want a cease-fire on Israel's terms," he said.

Israel has mounted a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since a surprise attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7. The Israeli onslaught has killed at least 27,019 Palestinians and injured 66,139. About 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.