Protests around Japan have demanded an end to the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in its war against Hamas, the Islamic organization that rules the Palestinian territory.

A rally held near the Israeli Embassy in Tokyo on Nov. 4 drew about 1,600 people, according to organizers.

Shindo Matsushita, who visited the West Bank last fall and this summer, took the stage at the rally with sunflower seeds in his hands.

In the West Bank, he heard a gunshot and found a Palestinian child had been shot. Matsushita said his body froze at what had suddenly happened in front of him.

After he returned to his lodgings, a child in the neighborhood gave him some sunflower seeds.

Matsushita, 27, criticized the United States for continuing to support Israel’s actions and Japan for giving consideration to both Israel and Palestine.

“In Palestine, everyone handed me something,” he said. “Yet Japan and Western nations are depriving the people of Gaza and Palestine of hope.”

Matsushita called for public support in immediately stopping the Israeli air strikes on Gaza.

The offensive started after Hamas infiltrated Israel on Oct. 7, killed 1,400 people and took 240 hostages.

However, Israel’s military action, including constant airstrikes that have killed more than 10,000 people in Gaza, including 4,000 children, has been criticized as excessive and causing another humanitarian crisis in the Middle East.

Saori Gomi, who supported Syrian refugees in Turkey as a nonprofit organization employee, participated in her first demonstration at the Tokyo rally.

Refugees and others she became acquainted with in Turkey have shared social media posts about demonstrations in Japan and written messages about them.

“Some people say it is meaningless to demonstrate in Japan, but it is important to show solidarity,” said Gomi, 34. “There are people all over the world who are watching (what is happening in Japan) and delivering the message.”

Osama Eljamal, an associate professor of environmental engineering at Kyushu University and a native of the Gaza Strip, participated in a demonstration in Fukuoka’s Tenjin district on Nov. 3 with his family.

About 250 people, mainly Muslim residents and students, turned out, according to organizers.

Eljamal’s family was able to contact his wife’s sister in Gaza through a social media platform on Nov. 4.

Although she had evacuated to a school after surrounding houses were bombed, she said she returned to her home because hospitals and schools were being targeted by Israeli airstrikes.

“There is no safe place in Gaza anymore. It doesn’t matter where you are,” she was quoted as saying.

Eljamal, 49, said his sense of helplessness is growing.

“Even if I want to help, there is nothing I can do,” he said.

He criticized Israel, saying Israelis believe that they have to kill 10 Palestinians if one Israeli is killed.

He hopes that Japan will not only provide humanitarian aid in the form of medical care and food but will also engage in proactive diplomatic negotiations.

“I want Japan to work on the United States and the European Union to help Palestinians establish a state and live in peace with Israel,” he said.

Daniel Feldman, a foreign exchange student who was born in Israel, participated in a demonstration held in front of the U.S. Consulate in Osaka on Oct. 19 to protest U.S. military support to Israel.

“When thousands of kids under 18 in Gaza are dying, you cannot be human and justify this,” he said through a megaphone.

Both his parents and grandparents consider the founding of Israel as a Jewish state a “miracle.”

But Feldman, 21, who immigrated to Canada when he was 3 years old, said, “Being Jewish is not really a large part of my identity or it’s a very small part of my identity actually.”

He was invited to the demonstration by another international student.

A woman from Palestine ran up to him and said he was the first Jewish person she has met who supports Palestinians. Her children were smiling at him.

“I don’t think having a family member or loved one killed is an excuse, a justification for more hate that fuels the fire,” Feldman said.

(This article was written by Kazuki Uechi, Yusuke Ogawa and Asako Hanafusa.)