14 arrested as protesters block traffic, rail line in Vancouver

Vancouver police say 14 people were arrested for mischief and obstruction during a protest that blocked traffic and a rail line in East Vancouver.

In a statement, Const. Tania Visintin of the Vancouver Police Department said approximately 100 people were involved in the protest at Kaslo Street and Grandview Highway from around 11 a.m. to approximately 2:30 p.m., when the arrests were made.

She said both road traffic and a CN Rail line were blocked, and protesters refused multiple requests to allow traffic to move through, with "some members" becoming "hostile to police."

She said investigators are reviewing the case before forwarding information to Crown counsel for potential charges.

Earlier Friday, a news release sent by some of the protesters said they were calling on Canada and other Western governments to impose "full sanctions" on Israel over its ongoing action in Gaza, and for Canada to cut off diplomatic ties with Israel altogether.

One of the participants, Atiya Jaffar, says she and other parents laid clothes down on the rail line to symbolize the children killed in Gaza.

"These children should be in school, playing," she said in a written statement. "Instead, they are buried, trapped under rubble; or worse, no trace of them remains."

Nearly 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, Gaza's health ministry says.

Israel launched the operation after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking more than 250 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.