Unlike earlier this month, the rally has been approved by the authorities.
The participants unfolded a huge Palestinian flag in the middle of the square and chanted "Freedom to Palestine," "Palestine will win" and "Israel is a murderer." The demonstration is attended by representatives of the Arab diaspora, the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), the Communist Party, anarchists, as well as local residents.
No violence has been reported so far.
Last Saturday, an unauthorised demonstration in support of Palestine took place in the Barbes district of Paris, which resulted in violent clashes between protesters and police. Protesters threw bottles, wooden boards, firecrackers at law enforcement officers, burned garbage cans. The police responded with tear gas, water cannons and rubber bullets. Reportedly, 44 people were detained, one policeman was injured in Paris.
According to the French Ministry of Internal Affairs, a total of 22,000 people took part in pro-Palestinian rallies across the country, with some 2,000-3,5000 in the French capital alone.
On Thursday, Israel and the Hamas movement agreed to an Egypt-brokered ceasefire, after 11 days of rocket attacks and airstrikes that left 243 Palestinians and 12 Israelis dead.
