Members of the Palestine community in Chile hold up a Palestine flag during a rally for peace in Gaza, in Valparaiso, northwest of Santiago.

About 5,000 demonstrators against Israel’s military strikes in Gaza held a protest Saturday in the Chilean capital, home to a sizable Palestinian community.

The march took demonstrators to the Israeli embassy in Santiago, where some participants glued pictures of children who have died in the attacks to the walls of the building.

The marchers continued on to the embassy of the United States, seen as Israel’s close ally.

Protests were also held Saturday in Paris and London.

Twelve days of violence between Israeli forces and Hamas have led to more than 340 deaths, most of them Palestinian civilians.

Chile in 2011 recognized Palestine as a sovereign state, without specifying where its boundaries should be affixed.

Some 300,0000 people of Middle Eastern and Arab ancestry live in Chile, compared to a Jewish community of just 30,000.

 
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