- 18 provisional arrests at pro-Palestinian demonstration
In connection with a Palestinian demonstration in Berlin-Tiergarten, the police made 18 temporary arrests on Wednesday evening. 17 reports were filed, including assault, threat, and insult, as a police spokesperson summarized. An officer was lightly injured by a blow from a flagpole.
According to the police, up to 180 people participated in the spontaneous demonstration in front of the Tiergarten town hall. When the organizers excluded some people from the demo, conflicts arose between different groups. The police intervened to separate the groups, during which officers were attacked.
Two journalists were attacked
According to the police and the German Journalists' Union (dju), two journalists were attacked during the demonstration. One was reportedly injured in the face with a flagpole, and another had his phone, which he was using to film, knocked out of his hand by a demonstrator.
A counter-demonstrator was also reportedly beaten and lightly injured. A cardboard sign she was holding was reportedly torn from her and, according to footage on social media, possibly also destroyed. In all three cases, the police made temporary arrests and filed reports.
The demonstration, under the motto "Hands off Lebanon now - In solidarity with Lebanon & Palestine", was called for on social networks. It began at around 19:00 and was declared over by the organizers at around 20:30.
New tensions in the Middle East
The demonstration took place against the backdrop of new tensions in the Middle East. A leading Hamas figure, Ismail Haniyah, was killed in an air strike in Iran. Iran and the Islamist Hamas blamed Israel for the attack. Shortly before, a high-ranking Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli air strike in Lebanon. Hezbollah, a Shia militia, is allied with Hamas.
Israel is waging war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The war was sparked by the unprecedented massacre of 1,200 people carried out by Hamas and other groups from the Gaza Strip in southern Israel on October 7 of the previous year.
The two journalists reported their attachments during the demonstration, with one being injured by a flagpole and another having their phone stolen. The demonstration, where tensions escalated, led to 18 temporary arrests by the police, including charges of assault, threat, and insult.
