ISTANBUL

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at Hagia Sophia Square in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Saturday to mourn the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and support Gazans under the banner "Last Call."

Participants from across the historical peninsula came together to protest Israeli forces' relentless air attacks and ground offensives against Palestinians, which have killed nearly 40,000 people in the Gaza Strip in less than 10 months, and to express their full support for Gazans who are struggling for food, water, and shelter.

Hamas political bureau chief Haniyeh issued the call for this day of action before being assassinated in the Iranian capital of Tehran on Wednesday.

Haniyeh had declared August 3 to be a national and international day of solidarity with Gazans and those imprisoned in Israeli facilities. He had urged all Islamic, Arab, and global communities to join in protests and demonstrations to show their solidarity.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Istanbul's Hagia Sophia Square under the banner "Last Call" to mourn the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and to show solidarity with the people of Gaza https://t.co/6xvcPKjldg pic.twitter.com/qbxscKNREP

— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) August 3, 2024

The march in Türkiye's largest city was so huge that people were seen in the streets surrounding Hagia Sophia Square, expressing their solidarity with the Palestinians.

Protesters carried Turkish and Palestinian flags while chanting slogans for Palestine's freedom and condemning Israel and the US, which has provided financial and military support to Tel Aviv since October 7 of last year.

"Free Palestine from the river to the sea," and "Murderer Israel get out of Palestine” were among the main slogans chanted by the gathering.

Banners in multiple languages condemned the situation in Gaza, demanding an end to the violence and genocide. Some banners read: "End the massacre, don't let children die" and "Israel, stop the genocide."

*Writing by Yasin Gungor