Pro-Palestinian protesters cleared from Sydney Harbour Bridge after march — as it happened

An estimated 90,000 people have walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge in rainy weather as part of a pro-Palestinian protest.

The bridge reopened at 5pm after being closed to traffic since late morning.

NSW Police issued two geo-targeted alerts at around 3pm, ordering the march to turn around due to “public safety”.

Thousands also marched in Melbourne and Adelaide to protest at the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.

You can take a look back at Sunday’s developments in our blog below.

Police say about 3,000 people marched in Melbourne

About 3,000 protesters gathered at State Library Victoria for the pro-Palestinian protest, according to Victoria Police.

“The group marched from that location and despite repeated requests from police, they marched to King Street,” police said in a statement.

“As a result of this, Victoria Police closed the King Street Bridge and diversions were put in place.”

Police say no arrests were made, but they are looking into an incident where an egg was thrown and struck a person.

Hundreds march in Adelaide pro-Palestine protest

Hundreds of supporters have marched from Peace Park to the steps of Parliament House in Adelaide today.

The snap rally was organised by the Australian Friends of Palestine Association who described it as “a flood of solidarity for Palestine” and “one of the biggest rallies for Palestine, probably ever” in Adelaide.

Organiser Ahmed Azhar said he wants to see the Australian government impose serious sanctions on Israel.

“We demand immediate, real action now,” he said.

“I want to see all ties cut with Israel, I want to see sanctions imposed, I want to see the Israeli ambassador kicked out, I want to see human life prioritised.

“The horror of what is going on in Gaza goes right to the core, for so many people it is so horrific that we just cannot stand to continue to allow this to continue.

“Every day we are confronted with images of children emaciated and skeletal and these children are starving to death not because of a natural disaster, not because of a drought, but because of the choices of those in power.”

Police concerns were a ‘reflection on them and not on us’, protest organiser says

We told you earlier that NSW Police said the Sydney protest came “very close” to being a catastrophic situation, with concerns of a crowd crush on the bridge.

However, the Palestine Action Group’s Amal Nasersays it was a successful day, with “no injuries and no arrests”.

“The reality is that police had eight days to logistically prepare for this protest,” she says.

“They wasted their resources on going to court and trying to crush the right to protest.

“It should be a reflection on them and not on us that they spent one day planning for this event.”

Organisers say there are ‘no plans’ to protest over the Sydney Harbour Bridge again

 

Mr Lees says there are “no plans” for another pro-Palestine protest over the Sydney Harbour Bridge in future.

“Today was unprecedented,” he says.

“It’s not something we plan to do every week, today was a special event.

“But we do need to keep this movement until this genocide stops and Palestine is free.”