Hundreds of thousands of people joined a New Year’s Day rally for Gaza in Istanbul on Thursday, waving Palestinian and Turkish flags and calling for an end to violence in the war-torn territory.

Demonstrators gathered in near-freezing temperatures under cloudless blue skies to march to the city’s Galata Bridge for a rally under the slogan: “We won’t remain silent, we won’t forget Palestine.”

More than 400 civil society organizations were present at the rally, one of whose organizers was Bilal Erdogan, the youngest son of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Police sources and Anadolou state news agency claimed some 500,000 people had joined the march, at which there were speeches and a performance by Lebanese-born singer Maher Zain of his song “Free Palestine.”

“We are praying that 2026 will bring goodness for our entire nation and for the oppressed Palestinians,” said the younger Erdogan, who chairs the........

© The Times of Israel