Jewish protesters in California stage sit-in, demand ceasefire in Gaza

Hundreds of protesters led by Jewish peace activists calling for a ceasefire in Gaza staged a sit-in inside the federal building in Oakland, California, leading to multiple arrests.

People wore T-shirts reading "Jews Say Ceasefire Now” and carried banners that read "Not in Our Name" and "Let Gaza Live" in the rotunda of the Ronald V. Dellums Federal building.

Jewish Voice for Peace, one of the protest organisers, posted online that dozens of people had been taken into custody.

Protesters were escorted outside of the building by US Department of Homeland Security police. Messages were sent early on Tuesday to the department and to Oakland police asking how many people were arrested and on what charges.

"There is no other choice," Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb of Berkeley told KNTV-TV when explaining why she was at the sit-in. “How many people do we have to kill before we arrive at a ceasefire?”

Protests across US

The protest was part of a growing number across the country following Israeli strikes on Gaza which has led to thousands of deaths and much destruction across Gaza.

Hundreds of Jewish peace activists and their allies had also converged in downtown Chicago during rush hour blocking the entrance to the Israeli consulate and demanding US support for an Israel ceasefire.

Jewish Voice for Peace led a similar sit-in in New York City’s Grand Central Station where a sea of protesters filled the main concourse during evening rush hour, chanting slogans and unfurling banners demanding a ceasefire as Israel intensified its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

At least 200 demonstrators were detained by New York police officers.