Several hundred individuals gathered outside the Israeli embassy on Tuesday afternoon, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The peaceful protest was met with a show of force by the police, who resorted to using a water cannon and tear gas. One protestor was struck in the face by a police officer’s baton and required medical treatment.
Around 18:00, the crowd congregated outside the Israeli Embassy in Uccle chanting: "Enough is enough, resistance is justified." Protestors gathered to call for an immediate end to the bloodshed in Gaza and for sanctions to be imposed on Israel by both Belgium and the European Union, as Israel continues its assault on Rafah.
"The people of Rafah are being bombed by the Israeli government. Babies are being beheaded, Palestinians are burned alive, women are raped, and the public is left starving," claimed the protest organisers. Their message, which has not been verified, was extensively shared on social media throughout Tuesday.
The originally peaceful demonstration took a grim turn when the police resorted to the use of a water cannon in an attempt to disperse protestors. Simultaneously, a protestor’s face became the target of a police officer’s baton.
Later, the authorities resulted to tear gas. By 19:30, a number of protestors affected by the gas had to retreat to seek relief for their eyes. A paramedic unit was dispatched to the scene to attend to a protestor who had fainted.
Hundreds of people joined the protest action in front of the embassy of Israel to Belgium. Credit: BELGA PHOTO LOU LAMPAERT
In response, the Mayor of Uccle Boris Dilliès (MR) said that the heavy-handed response was due to the fact that the demonstration had not been given authorisation.
He emphasised that it was the second unauthorised demonstration outside the Israeli Embassy in 15 days. He told the Belga News Agency that "since there was no request, the demonstration was not authorised and therefore illegal."
According to the Mayor, efforts were made to defuse the situation. The protesters were asked to leave the premises 15 minutes into the demonstration but they refused. He authorised the police to disperse the crowd.
Dilliès denounced the demonstration as not peaceful. There were hateful remarks made, particularly against the State of Israel and himself as mayor, he added. Most of the allegations were repetitions of the atrocities that actually were committed by Hamas on its terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October.
