Tens of thousands of people gathered in the US to support the Palestinians.

In Cincinnati, hundreds of people clogged a neighborhood once dominated by German immigrants, chanting pro-Palestinian slogans under police watch. In San Francisco, thousands filled the Civic Center Plaza, many waving Palestinian flags and leaving souvenirs at an altar honoring those killed in the Gaza war.

Tens of thousands of protesters packed the streets of American cities on Saturday to denounce the scope and scale of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza in response to last month’s Hamas terrorist attack.

The day’s protests, in sight of the seats of American power in Washington, but also in places like New York, Nashville, Cincinnati, Las Vegas and even Orono, Maine, have raised demands for a ceasefire and an end to the siege extended and strengthened. Gaza. The demonstrations came a week after large-scale protests in Asian and European capitals, and a day after the Israeli government appeared to reject US calls for “humanitarian pauses” on the bombing.

But Saturday’s protesters demanded much more than that; their Washington chants thundered down Pennsylvania Avenue, their protest signs filled with messages like “Grieve for the dead, fight like hell for the living” and “Let Gaza live!” In addition to a swift end to the siege that is exacting a mounting human toll, they also sought a halt to US aid to Israel, mixing policy demands with fear and ambition.