Morocco's Hakim Ziyech: 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free'

Moroccan international footballer Hakim Ziyech expressed support for Palestine on Saturday amid ongoing Israeli bombing of Gaza that has claimed more than 2,400 lives.

Ziyech, who plays as a right winger, posted an Instagram story, saying: "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free." He included emojis of praying hands and the Palestinian flag.

The footballer attached the well-known slogan below a quote from American Muslim and civil rights activist Malcolm X, which had originally been posted by another user.

"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people being oppressed, and loving those doing the oppressing," the Malcolm X quote read.

The other user's post also included an image that showed heavily damaged buildings with a Palestinian flag in the foreground.

Ziyech's show of solidarity comes as Israel continues to pound the besieged Gaza Strip with airstrikes that have so far killed more than 2,450 Palestinians.

Israel's latest assault on the besieged enclave followed a surprise attack by Hamas and other Palestinian militants on 7 October.

The assault killed more than 1,300 people in Israel.

Western media and officials have been criticised as painting a dehumanising picture of Palestinians as Israel carries out its brutal assault.

There are fears the population could be ethnically cleansed and pushed into neighbouring Egypt in a repeat of the 1948 Nakba.

Nakba means "catastrophe" in Arabic and refers to a period in which around 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes to make way for a new state of Israel.