Collected photo

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories, Aug 3, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Thousands of 
Palestinians protested in the occupied West Bank's major cities Sunday 
against the war in Gaza and in support of Palestinians held in Israeli 
prisons.

One of the largest marches took place in Ramallah, the seat of the 
Palestinian Authority located just north of Jerusalem, with hundreds 
gathering at the main square, waving Palestinian flags.

Many protesters carried photos of Palestinians killed or imprisoned by 
Israel, as well as photos depicting the hunger crisis unfolding in the Gaza 
Strip, where UN-backed experts have warned that a "famine is unfolding".

"My son is in (Israel's) Megido prison and he suffers from many things, such 
as the lack of medicine the lack of food," Rula Ghanem, a Palestinian 
academic and writer who took part in the march, told AFP.

She told AFP that her son had lost 10 kilograms and suffered from scabies in 
jail.

The number of Palestinians jailed by Israel skyrocketed after the start of 
the war in Gaza, some for violent acts, but some also for posting political 
statements on social media, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees' and Ex-
Detainees' Affairs says.

The commission's spokesman Thaer Shriteh told AFP: "The international 
community is a partner in all this suffering, as long as it does not 
intervene quickly to save the Palestinian people and save the prisoners 
inside the prisons and detention centre."

A group of protesters dressed as skeletons and carried dolls around to 
symbolise the Gaza war's dire effect on children, who are most at risk of 
malnutrition.

Israel has heavily restricted the entry of aid into Gaza, which was already 
under blockade for 15 years before the war began.

UN agencies, humanitarian groups and analysts say that much of the trickle of 
food aid that Israel allows in is looted or diverted in chaotic 
circumstances.

"We hope that our stand today will have an impact in supporting our people in 
Gaza and the hungry children in Gaza," said 39-year-old Tagreed Ziada, one of 
the protesters at the Ramallah march.

Protests were held Sunday in other major Palestinian cities such as Nablus in 
the north and Hebron in the south, with many government employees receiving a 
day off to attend the demonstrations.

While there have been somewhat regular demonstrations against the war in 
Gaza, they are rarely coordinated across various cities in the West Bank.