TRANSCRIPT:
Huge crowds have turned out to protest against Israel's actions in Gaza ...
... with rallies held in more than 40 towns and cities across Australia.
Sydney Palestine Action Group organiser Josh Lees explains their demands.
"We need real action that can actually hinder Israel's ability to carry on this genocide, and that means crippling economic sanctions on the state of Israel and an end to the two-way arms trade."
Organisers say they expect up to half a million people to have protested by the end of the day.
They say 100,000 turned out in Melbourne and Sydney, 50,000 in Brisbane, 25,000 in Perth, and 15,000 in Adelaide.
Police estimates of crowd sizes are lower.
Hobart and Canberra drew thousands as well, with some smaller centres attracting crowds in their hundreds.
Organisers say Australia's government has not done enough to push back against Israel's actions in Gaza.
"We are not satisfied with weasel words, with raised eyebrows, with concerns. We want Australia to stop assisting the genocide in Gaza."
Israel denies it is committing genocide, and although the International Court of Justice has said the accusation is plausible, it has not made a determinative ruling.
The Federal Government also denies Australia has a two-way arms trade with Israel, insisting its role in supplying parts for F-35 fighter jets is not the same thing.
Palestine Action Group organiser Amal Naser says it's a semantic distinction.
"There's no such thing as a non-lethal part to an F-35, the same way as there's no such thing as a non-lethal part to a gun."
Demonstrators were also demanding comprehensive sanctions on Israel.
“Sanctions now! Sanctions now! Sanctions now!"
Australia has sanctioned individual right-wing ministers in Israel's government, accusing them of inciting violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.
But weeks after Australia imposed those sanctions, Israel's Knesset approved a symbolic motion calling for the annexation of the territory, which international law says is already occupied illegally.
Organiser Amal Naser says sanctions won't be effective unless they're broad-based.
"Of course those sanctions are welcome. But what these sanctions also represent is that the Australian government has really tried to individualise these systemic crimes that occurring in Palestine, attributing them to a few individuals on the far right - this is a systemic issue."
Her views are shared by high-profile speakers including Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe and Greens Deputy Leader Mehreen Faruqi, who spoke in Melbourne.
Journalist Antoinette Lattouf spoke in Sydney alongside the former Australian of the Year, Grace Tame.
"Power responds to two forces .... money. There's a reason why our government, they know what is happening. They are complicit in it. They are part of the arms trade, and they have been reliant on the innovative technology that Israel supplies to the rest of the world that it has tested on the Palestinians like they are lab rats."
But Ms Tame says there is another force that power responds to ...
"And it is public pressure."
The rallies come three weeks after a historic demonstration that saw between one- and three-hundred-thousand people march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
They reflect mounting outrage over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which has prompted the government to announce it will recognise a Palestinian state.
But the upswell of anger isn't universally shared, with some in the Jewish community criticising the rallies.
Alex Ryvchin is the Co Executive Director of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
"All we see and hear from these rallies are the chants for death to the IDF, of the destruction of Israel and its replacement with the Palestinian state from the river to the sea, calls for an intifada, the glorification of terrorists, the demonisation of Israel and supporters of Israel in every word they can sling at us. So if there are people there who disagree with all this, speak out, speak out, hold up your placards and call for peace and coexistence. But we haven't seen this."
Others in the Jewish community have joined the marches, including Dr Max Kaiser, an Executive Officer of the Jewish Council Australia.
"There have been Jewish groups and individuals who have been part of this protest movement since the very start. And these are inclusive, multicultural demonstrations. Many families there and people from all walks of life."
Final numbers from today's rallies aren't clear at this point but protesters say the situation is increasingly urgent and action can't wait.
Australia's demonstrations come as Israel prepares to occupy Gaza City, just days after the UN-backed body responsible for monitoring food security declared famine has struck the area.
There have also been sweeping protests within Israel, as pressure mounts on the Israeli government to strike a ceasefire deal and flood Gaza with aid.
