Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched in Australian capital cities and regional centres on Sunday for the Global Day for Gaza, calling on the Australian government to end its arms trade with Israel. The rallies marked three years of Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza, launched after the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack.
The demands reached beyond symbolism. Organisers want Canberra to cut trade, investment and institutional ties with Israel, a package that could affect Australia’s commercial and diplomatic relationships.
The Hobart March
In Hobart, hundreds walked along the waterfront, waving Palestinian flags, carrying placards and chanting “the West Bank will be free.” They began gathering at about 11am, then headed to the Tasmanian Parliament.
Among the speakers were Nala Mansell of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre and Feras Shaheen of the Tasmanian Palestine Advocacy Network. Shaheen urged the crowd to escalate. “What else can you do in your spaces... there is still a lot to do,” he said. He argued that new measures were needed to end the war in Gaza, but didn’t spell out what they should be.
Newcastle Event
About 100 people came to Civic Park in Newcastle, New South Wales. Lynn Benn, a Hunter Valley woman from the environmental group the Knitting Nannas, said anger over conditions in Gaza had brought people together. “Food supplies are restricted, critical medical supplies are restricted, and there are thousands and thousands of children in there,” she said. “This has been going on for three years, which is horrendous. Standing back and letting this happen is appalling, and that’s why we’re here.” Benn said she wanted “true peace” in Gaza and the West Bank.
Niko Leka, of Palestine Action Group Muloobinba, said he and other Novocastrians had protested the war for years. “Showing up here is another intervention, a peaceful intervention,” Dr Leka said. He called on the Australian government to follow international law. “No more arms trade with Israel, no more investment, stopping our relationships with their universities until they start obeying international law,” he said.
The Casualty Figures
The Gaza health ministry reported that more than 74,000 Palestinians had been killed in Gaza and more than 175,000 injured. The United Nations estimated that 1.9 million people had been displaced. The figures came from the ministry in Gaza and UN estimates, and protesters cited them as they made their case across the country.
The demonstrations responded to a campaign Israel launched after the October 7 Hamas terrorist attack. Yet the marchers’ demands focused almost entirely on Israel and Australia’s commercial links to it. The rallies called for “true peace” in Gaza and the West Bank, while the specific measures raised were trade cutoffs, investment bans and severed university ties.
Why This Matters:
The rallies show sustained domestic pressure on Canberra to use trade and investment as foreign-policy tools. Cutting arms trade, pulling investment and ending university relationships would carry costs for Australian businesses, research institutions and alliance relationships, but organisers offered no accounting of those costs. Governments considering such demands must balance public sentiment against national interest, existing commercial obligations and Australia’s standing with partners. The October 7 Hamas attack that triggered the war barely came up in the demands put to Canberra. Any serious policy response has to account for the security context as well as the humanitarian toll. That’s harder than a rally slogan, and elected officials—not street campaigns—are accountable for making that calculation.