THE HAGUE, October 8. /TASS/. Around 320 people were detained during pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian rallies in the capital of the Netherlands, the NOS television reported citing the country’s police.

According to the report, around 20 people were detained for public order violations, verbal assaults and use of pyrotechnics. They were placed in custody.

The remaining 300 were detained for not complying with the law on public gatherings, in particular for covering their entire face with masks. They were taken by buses to the city’s northern districts and released there shortly after.

A number of pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian rallies was held in Amsterdam on October 7, to mark one year since the deadly attack on Israel by HAMAS.

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7, 2023, when HAMAS militants staged a surprise attack on Israeli territory from Gaza, killing residents of Israeli border settlements and taking over 250 hostages, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas described its attack as retaliation for the aggressive actions taken by Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel declared a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians before the crisis, launching air strikes on Gaza as well as some parts of Lebanon and Syria before starting a ground operation in the Palestinian enclave.