Pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with police in Paris as they defied a ban on a planned rally against violence in the Gaza strip.

Demonstrators in northern Paris launched projectiles at riot police, who responded by firing tear gas canisters and stun grenades. Demonstrators also climbed on top of a building and tore up an Israeli flag.

President Francois Hollande earlier said he had asked his interior minister to ban protests that could turn violent after demonstrators marched on two synagogues in Paris last weekend and clashed with riot police.

In defiance of the ban, large crowds gathered in northern Paris chanting "Israel, murderer" until they were dispersed by tear gas.

Peaceful rallies were also held in more than a dozen other cities, from Lille in the north to Marseille in the South.

Today, Israeli tanks and bulldozers dug in across a mile-wide strip of Gaza's eastern frontier, and Palestinian officials said military strikes had killed more than 300 people, most of them civilians.

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