Montrealers demand ceasefire in Gaza outside Israeli Consulate

As the death toll in Gaza continues to rise, Montrealers marched from Dorchester Square to the Israeli Consulate downtown to once again call for a ceasefire Saturday.

The protesters say the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is getting worse each day, pointing to hospitals running out of supplies and communications being cut off. 

Nasser Najjar's family is still in Gaza, and he says he sees his friends' obituaries on social media daily.

"My home has been destroyed … It's beyond imagination, you wake up every morning to check if you received a text from loved ones and family," he said.

"This is the place where I was born, raised and made memories. It's the place where I studied, where I fell in love, where I enjoyed making friends and growing."

Najjar says his uncle in Gaza has taken in 25 people, mostly seniors and children, while his cousin scavenges for any food they can find. His parents and sisters have had to move several times over the last month, he said.

"Almost every house they've been to has been demolished and destroyed," said Najjar.

"Sometimes they're lucky to have onions and carrots to feed on, sometimes they might find cans of tuna and they divide it once per day and that's the nutrition that they're having. They've been drinking sewage water for the last three weeks."

Amid six weeks of Israeli airstrikes, an estimated 1.6 million Gazans have been displaced from their homes, according to United Nations data. According the the Health Ministry in Gaza, over 12,300 people have died.

The fighting erupted when Hamas launched a series of attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7. The Israeli government says some 1,200 people died in the violence and 240 people were taken hostage.

Suzanne Obeid, who says her Palestinian parents were pushed out of their homes in 1948, says the destruction she's seeing in Gaza "is a nightmare." She says Canada must call for a ceasefire now, adding Palestinians need humanitarian aid immediately.

"These massacres have to stop," she said.

"I don't sleep, I cry every morning and during the day. I don't understand how the world is unable to stop this."

A large protest is scheduled to take place on Ottawa's Parliament Hill next weekend, including a Montreal contingent, said Sarah Shamy of the Palestinian Youth Movement. She says the protests will continue until a ceasefire is called, the siege on Gaza is lifted and Canada places an arms embargo on Israel.

"The more that our political leaders ignore us, the more we make it impossible for them to ignore us," said Shamy.