Global protests planned to mark one year of Israel's Gaza assault

Pro-Palestine protests are due to be held in cities across the world in the coming days to mark the first anniversary of Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, which has killed well over 41,000 Palestinians and wounded close to 100,000.

The demonstrations will coincide with the beginning of the blockade on the enclave on 7 October, which followed the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel and resulted in the devastating Israeli invasion of Gaza.

The protests will also remember the dead of Lebanon, where 1,974 people have been killed and 9,384 wounded, many of them in the past two weeks of an intensified Israeli assault on the country.

In Australia, protests are scheduled to take place in Melbourne and Adelaide on Saturday and Sydney on Sunday, following attempts by police to have such gatherings cancelled.

New South Wales police withdrew an application to block the protest in Sydney after a compromise was reached with the march's organisers, the Palestine Action Group [PAG]. Last-minute negotiations between the PAG resulted in a different path for the protest after police raised concerns that the rally would go past a Jewish synagogue.

Despite the new route, NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna expressed his reservations at a court hearing on Thursday.

"I think it would actually be quite provocative to re-enter that close to the Great Synagogue, especially with the significant number of people that I would expect in this protest," Mckenna was quoted by SBS News as saying.

Speaking after the hearing, PAG members celebrated the decision.

"We ultimately got everything we wanted," said event organiser Amal Naser. 

"We had a strong case and we were going to win anyway. We’ve reached a good outcome, and it’s what we’ve been saying all along. We have the right to protest, and we need to protest now more than ever."

On Monday — the anniversary of 7 October  — a vigil will take place in Sydney instead of a march, allowing organisers to bypass the requirement for a 'form 1' application for protests.

In London, a protest is set to take place on Saturday from Russell Square to Whitehall, the seat of several UK government buildings.

"We will march to demand that the British government finally ends its complicity in Israel’s genocide, and ends all arms trade with Israel. We will march to demand freedom and justice for the Palestinian people," the Palestine Solidarity Campaign said on their website.

The UK's capital has seen huge protests against Israel's assault on Gaza - widely considered to be a genocide - drawing hundreds of thousands of people from across the country.

In Washington, people will gather in front of the White House on Saturday to mark "one year of genocide", while protests will take place in Los Angeles, New York, Indianapolis, and Houston.

College campus groups are also planning events, amid new restrictions imposed by campus authorities in response to pro-Palestine organising protests.

Following the outbreak of protests and encampments last year, students were subject to crackdowns by educational institutions and police, as well as attacks by pro-Israel activists.