WASHINGTON, March 27. /TASS/. Pro-Palestinian activists dumped manure outside US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s house, Politico reported.

The Department of Defense confirmed that there was a protest but refused to elaborate, the news outlet writes. According to Politico, an activist-shot video showed protesters yelling "Austin, Austin, rise and shine, occupation [of Palestine] is a crime!"

Earlier, the Fox News TV channel said that a person had put manure in front of US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan’s house.

Activists supporting Palestine have been regularly interrupting US President Joe Biden’s speeches in recent months. Among other things, they demand that the Biden administration cease fire in the Gaza Strip and rally for more humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

Tensions flared up in the Middle East after the infiltration of Hamas militants from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory on October 7, 2023, accompanied by the killing of residents of border settlements and the taking over 240 hostages. The radicals described their attack as a response to the actions of the Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Israel declared a total siege of Gaza and began to conduct strikes on the sector as well as certain areas of Lebanon and Syria, after which it launched a ground operation in the enclave. Clashes are also taking place in the West Bank of the Jordan River.