Police on Monday arrested pro-Palestinian demonstrators who occupied the lobby of a San Francisco building that houses the Israeli Consulate.
Associated Press journalists saw police zip-tie the hands of about 50 people. Officers then put them in police vans and drove them away. San Francisco police later confirmed that 70 protesters were arrested and cited for trespassing after they “refused to vacate the building”. They have since been released from San Francisco county jail.
A group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators entered the building and occupied it for several hours Monday. The protesters posted signs on the front doors of the building calling for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza.
Police officers issued multiple warnings ordering the demonstrators to leave before they moved in and started detaining people, the San Francisco police department said in a statement.
About five protesters remained inside the building by late afternoon as officers processed detainees outside.
Marco Sermoneta, consul general of Israel to the Pacific north-west, said the protesters arrived around 9am PT at the Financial District’s high-rise but didn’t enter the consulate’s offices. He said his office was telling people that they might need to change their appointments.
San Francisco police officers were standing guard outside the building and told an AP journalist that it was not open to the public.
Earlier in the day, protesters had told the San Francisco Chronicle they would not leave until they were forced to do so. Police blocked the front doors of the building before ordering the demonstrators to leave. Protesters inside could be heard chanting.
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Israel faces growing international criticism over its offensive in Gaza, in which it has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians.
Hamas killed around 1,200 people in an attack on Israel on 7 October and abducted about 250. About 80 hostages in Gaza are believed to be alive, along with the bodies of 30 more.
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