Multiple arrests made at Atlanta Black Friday pro-Palestine rally near Lenox Square Mall
ATLANTA - Atlanta police arrested eight people involved in a protest supporting Palestine near Lenox Mall on Friday afternoon.
Dozens of protesters carrying signs and wearing keffiyehs marched from the Lenox MARTA station toward Peachtree Road.
"From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever," the crowd chanted while cars drove by honking.
FOX 5 cameras at the scene saw police putting multiple people - one who had a sash that said "legal observer" - in zip-tie handcuffs and putting them into transport vehicles while demonstrators in the crowd angrily called for them to be released.
In a statement, the Atlanta Police Department said some of the demonstrators entered the road and refused orders from officers to disperse from the street.
"APD continues to monitor the situation to ensure the safety of shoppers, visitors and demonstrators, and to uphold the law and protect the right to free speech," a spokesperson for the police department said.
The protests happened on the same day Israel and Hamas began a four-day cease-fire deal involving a swap of hostages and prisoners.
The agreement opened the way for sorely needed aid to flow into Gaza for beleaguered residents. It was also a moment of hope for families in Israel and elsewhere worried about loved ones taken captive during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, which triggered the war.
Related: Metro Atlanta activists hopeful as Israel-Hamas cease-fire begins
With the truce’s start Friday morning, Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians saw quiet for the first time after seven weeks of relentless Israeli bombardment, which has killed thousands, driven three-quarters of the population from their homes and flattened vast swaths of residential areas. Rocket fire from Gaza militants into Israel went silent as well.
The freed Israeli hostages included eight women — six of them in their 70s and 80s — and three children. Their release was followed in the evening by the freeing of the Palestinian prisoners — 24 women, including some convicted of attempted murder for attacks on Israeli forces, and 15 teenagers jailed for offenses like throwing stones.
Local activists applaud cease fire in Gaza
The diplomatic breakthrough promised some relief for the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza who have endured weeks of Israeli bombardment, as well as families in Israel fearful for the fate of their loved ones taken captive during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war.
But joy at the deal has been tempered — among Israelis by the fact that not all hostages will be freed and among Palestinians by the briefness of the pause. The short truce will leave Gaza mired in a humanitarian crisis and under the threat that fighting could soon resume.
Israel says the cease-fire could be extended if more hostages are released, but it has vowed to resume its massive offensive once the truce ends. That has clouded hopes that the deal could eventually help wind down the conflict, which has fueled a surge of violence in the occupied West Bank and stirred fears of a wider conflagration across the Middle East.