WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of protesters gathered outside the White House on Saturday to demand an end to Israel’s military action in the Gaza Strip, while children took part in a pro-Palestinian march through central London, part of a global day of action against the longest and longest is The deadliest war between Israel and the Palestinians in 75 years.

People in the US capital held signs questioning President Joe Biden’s suitability as a presidential candidate because of his strong support of Israel in its nearly 100-day war against Hamas. Some signs read: “No votes for Genocide Joe,” “Biden has blood on his hands,” and “Let Gaza live.”

Vendors also sold South African flags as protesters chanted slogans in support of the country, whose allegations of genocide against Israel prompted the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, to take up the case.

Dan Devries, a New York resident, said he attended the protest because he wanted to see a free Gaza Strip, but he would not vote for Biden or possible Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

“I see this war as part of the US effort to compensate for its economic decline through continuous wars,” Devries said.

Washington resident Phil Kline held a sign calling on Pope Francis to excommunicate Biden.

“I know he is a devout Catholic. Perhaps he will take this issue seriously when the Pope removes him from the church. “There is no justification for bombing civilians,” Kline said, but added that he still intends to vote for Biden in the November election.

Medea Benjamin, co-founder of the anti-war group CodePink, told The Associated Press that the nickname “Genocide Joe” will stick with Biden for a certain segment of the community because of his handling of the war in Gaza.

“I think the Democrats are playing with fire in many ways — supporting a genocide in Gaza, but also with fire when it comes to their own future,” Benjamin said.

Jake and Ida Braford, a young couple from Richmond, Virginia, who brought their two young children to the protest, said they were unsure whether they should vote for Biden in November.

“We’re pretty discouraged,” Ida Braford said. “When I see what is happening in Gaza and what the government is doing, I ask myself, what is our vote worth?”

The suffering of children in Gaza was the focus of the recent march in London, symbolized by the appearance of little Amal, a 3.5 meter tall doll originally intended to highlight the suffering of Syrian refugees.

During an 8,000 kilometer journey from the Turkish-Syrian border to Manchester in July 2001, the doll became a symbol of human rights.

According to the Health Ministry in Hamas-controlled territory, nearly two-thirds of the 23,843 people killed during Israel’s campaign in Gaza were women and children.

Israel declared war in response to Hamas’s unprecedented cross-border attack on October 7, in which the Islamist militant group killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 250 others hostage. It was the deadliest attack in Israel’s history and the deadliest for Jews since the Holocaust.

March organizers had announced that Palestinian children would accompany Little Amal through the streets of central London.

“On Saturday, Amal walks for the most vulnerable and for their courage and resilience,” said Amir Nizar Zuabi, artistic director of The Walk Productions. “Amal is a child and a refugee, and today in Gaza, childhood is under attack and an unimaginable number of children are being killed.” Childhood itself is being targeted. That’s why we’re leaving.”

London’s Metropolitan Police said around 1,700 officers would be deployed for the march, including many from outside the capital.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said he had been briefed by Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley on plans to “ensure order and security” during the protest.

“I support them using their power to manage the protest and crack down on any crime,” Cleverly said.

A number of conditions were imposed on the march, including the instruction that no protest participant could go near the Israeli embassy.

A pro-Israel rally was scheduled to take place in London on Sunday.

The London march was one of several others held in European cities including Paris, Rome, Milan and Dublin, where thousands also marched along the Irish capital’s main thoroughfare to protest Israel’s military operations in the Palestinian enclave.

Demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, held placards criticizing the governments of Ireland, the United States and Israel and chanted: “Free, free Palestine.”

In Rome, hundreds of demonstrators gathered on a boulevard near the famous Colosseum. Some carried signs reading “Stop the Genocide.”

At one point during the protest, amid the noise of sound effects imitating exploding bombs, several protesters lay down on the street and pulled white sheets over themselves as if they were corpses, while others knelt next to them with their palms smeared with red paint.

Many hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Paris’s Republic Square to set out on a march demanding an immediate ceasefire, an end to the war, an end to the blockade of the Gaza Strip and the imposition of sanctions against Israel. Marching demonstrators waved the Palestinian flag and held posters and banners reading “From Gaza to Paris.” Resistance.”

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Kirka and Hadjicostis reported from London. Associated Press TV producer Francesco Sportelli in Rome and AP writer John Leicester in Paris contributed to this report.