More than two dozen pro-Palestinian protesters briefly disrupted the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
New York ABC affiliate WABC reported the protest happened at Sixth Avenue at West 45th Street about 10 a.m. Thursday. Protesters reportedly jumped over the barricades, ran into the streets and glued themselves to the parade route.
The demonstrators, about 30 of them, wore white jumpsuits sprayed with fake blood and labeled with words like “colonialism” and “consumerism,” according to WABC.
Their protest began 90 minutes after the annual parade began. Spectators started to jeer the demonstrators once they realized what was happening.
Authorities arrested the demonstrators and took them into custody after they refused to leave the area.
Disturbances were also reported at two locations at West 49th and West 59th streets, WABC reported.
This staged protest is similar to one that occurred in 2014, where police arrested seven people protesting the court’s decision to indict a police officer in the fatal shooting of Black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., WABC noted.
The Hill has reached out to the NYPD for more information.
It’s been a month since Hamas’s surprise attack against Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people and the taking of around 240 hostages by the militant group.
In response, Israel has launched a series of airstrikes and a ground invasion in Gaza, resulting in the death of at least 13,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
The incident comes days after Israel and Hamas agreed to implement a temporary cease-fire for four days to allow for the safe transfer of hostages and the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The militant group has agreed to release 50 hostages, all women and children. With the transfer of hostages, Palestinian prisoners will also be released from Israeli jails.