Ceasefire deal welcomed by pro-Palestine groups in Melbourne

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Ahead of tonight's planned ceasefire deal, pro-Palestine marchers in Melbourne's CBD have welcomed the news but say it doesn't go far enough. Pro-Palestine groups have been holding rallies every weekend in Sydney and Melbourne since the October 7 terrorist attack which led to the war in Gaza.

Transcript

00:00As you can hear, the march has just got underway after the speakers spoke to the crowd.

00:07There's around 2,000 to 3,000 people here.

00:10It's very emotional, very intense, because like in Sydney, there is a lot of hope,

00:16but relief is something they say they don't feel.

00:19There is a lot of anger.

00:21They're saying the ceasefire will hopefully save lives, but it doesn't go far enough,

00:26because they want the full liberation of the Palestinian people.

00:30Now, we spoke with people here who have lost relatives over the past 15 months in the war,

00:35and they are not only grieving, they want change so that no more people are lost in the future.

00:41Others have had their family members come here to Australia,

00:45and one of those people said to us that some of them actually want a return,

00:50even though up to 80% of Gaza is estimated to have been wiped out.

00:55Take a listen to what she had to say a little earlier.

00:59In Gaza, it's like everybody's threaded together.

01:02It's a tight-knit, closed community of people, and so they're all looking to see who's not with them.

01:10How do I become helpful?

01:13A lot of the young men, not necessarily the ones that have just come from there,

01:18but Palestinians want to go back and rebuild.

01:20We want to go back and try to clear all that horrible stuff that has been left behind by the war.

01:25So there is, you know, hope is incurable, what can I say?

01:29So there is that hope there, but as you can see, a lot of these protesters say the fight is not over,

01:35and they will keep marching week after week through the CBD until Palestine is free.

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