About 100 activists marched through Valletta calling for peace in Palestine yesterday evening, as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was being announced in Cairo.

“Free, Free Palestine”, the protesters chanted as they carried a giant Palestinian flag and placards demanding an end to Israeli air strikes in Gaza.

The “solidarity peace walk”, organised by left-wing group Moviment Graffitti, was attended by mainly Palestinian and Maltese activists, who marched peacefully from City Gate to the law courts.

Young children decked in Palestinian colours led the procession through the drizzle and twinkling Christmas lights on Republic Street.

Lina El-Nahhal, 21, a Palestinian born in Malta, said her mother’s cousin Awad El-Nahhal was killed in Rafah by an Israeli strike last week.

“Israel is targeting civilians. They drop leaflets telling people to leave but where can go? There is a blockade and there are no bomb shelters,” she said.

At 6.30pm, as the march was taking place, US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and Egyptian Foreign Minister Kamel Amr announced the ceasefire at a news conference in Cairo.

The protesters in Valletta appeared to be unaware of the announcement.

Moviment Graffitti’s Marie Grace Vella, 35, said Malta must condemn Israeli actions and show solidarity with the Palestinians. “This is not a conflict of equals,” she said, asking the international community to impose sanctions on Israel.

At least 141 people have been killed in Gaza since November 14, when Israel began airstrikes in what it described as a defensive operation against militants firing missiles at its territory.

Three Israelis have been killed by rocket fire from Gaza in the same period, though hundreds more rockets bound for civilian areas have been intercepted by Israel’s missile-defence system. “The Israeli actions go way beyond self-defence, they are obliterating whole families,” said Palestinian Ambassador Jubran Taweel, who joined yesterday’s march.

“We don’t have shelters and we don’t have medicines in Gaza, many civilians are dying,” the Ambassador told The Times.

Candles were lit in front of the law courts as the Ambassador told the cheering crowd that Israel must accept a two-state solution.

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