TRANSCRIPT
Chanting: "Free Palestine! Free free free Palestine!"
An historic moment amid almost two years of war and protests.
Tens of thousands of people took to the streets, marching over the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge in a show of solidarity with Palestinians suffering in Gaza.
New South Wales Police estimate upwards of 90,000 people braved rain storm conditions to show up for the so-called 'March for Humanity'.
VOXIE 1: "We might be standing in the rain but it's nothing compared to the rain of the bombs and the bullets."
VOXIE 2: "This is nothing compared to what's happening in Palestine."
VOXIE 3: "We are not a noisy minority, this is the majority. The tide has turned. Sanction Israel now!"
VOXIE 4: "We're here using our voice, trying to make a change and pressure the government into doing something and taking a stand for these people."
It's the first time the famed Sydney bridge has been closed for an anti-war protest.
The last major march across the bridge was 25 years ago, when about 250,000 people marched in support of Reconciliation.
Even the most conservative estimates of this march would place it as Sydney's largest protest in over two decades.
On 16 February 2003, an estimated 250,000 protesters marched through Sydney's CBD in opposition to the invasion of Iraq by the United States - forming part of a global day of protest recognised as the largest ever by the Guinness Book of Records.
Protest organiser, Josh Lees from the Palestine Action Group, says some people in Gaza were watching the march.
"We're hoping to send the biggest message possible to the people of the world. I've just heard from a Palestinian man from Gaza who says the people of Gaza are watching this. Right now, they're watching this. The Australian government needs to sanction Israel now, stop sending them weapons!"
Former New South Wales Premier and Foreign Affairs Minister Bob Carr was also in attendance, as was Sydney mayor Clover Moore.
CARR: "Well it's a terrific turnout in lousy weather to send a message to Israel: let the food and medicine through to a starving population including dying kids and dying babies."
MOORE: "I think a lot of people, in saying they're marching today, have never marched before but they're so shocked by what's happening in Gaza that they're coming out."
The health ministry in Gaza says six more people have died of starvation and malnutrition over the past 24 hours, with the United Nations reporting at least 16 children under the age of five have died from hunger-related causes since mid-July.
While the rally stayed peaceful, police directed marchers to turn around as they neared the end in order to avoid a crowd crush.
New South Wales police acting deputy commissioner Peter McKenna described the protest as the largest he’d seen in his time in the force in Sydney.
Superintendent Adam Johnson has thanked protesters for heeding the instructions from the authorities, saying he feared the worst if they continued.
"That was a very tense situation. We had more people than I had ever seen in a small, confined space. We had some tactical plans quickly in place in relation to how to manage it at the end point which was the northern section and we were really overwhelmed with numbers. So we had to make a decision, which was risky in itself, to stop people with messaging, make sure they had stopped then turn around and go back the way they came."
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns had staunchly opposed the march taking place when it was announced a week ago, citing community safety concerns and transport disruptions.
He says he stands by those concerns but appreciates the peaceful nature of the demonstration.
"I accept the decision of the court, that's the first thing. I also accept that people came to the protest and acted peacefully. They demonstrated and followed police advice. The organisers of the protest worked with police in difficult circumstances and I think that needs to be acknowledged as well. But many people who were part of the protests would understand that we can't shut down the bridge every weekend and it's a difficult one for us to get right."
Federal Labor MP Ed Husic joined in the march, leading the Labor Friends of Palestine contingent.
He's told Sky News the march will encourage the Albanese government to apply more pressure on Israel to open humanitarian channels to Gaza and help end the war.
"A protest of this nature - of itself - will not end the gruesome images we're seeing. But I think we're seeing a realignment in Australian politics. Politics will now catch up - when you see a crowd that big, with the conditions they had to contend with, it encourages our government. It's a sign to join with the international pressure to bring these hostilities to an end."
Thousands of protesters in Melbourne also joined a demonstration, and the federal government has announced it will contribute a further $20 million to support humanitarian efforts in Gaza.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong describes the situation in Gaza as a catastrophe, and says Israel must allow full and immediate resumption of aid to the territory.
Included in the new aid commitment is $11 million for United Nations agencies, with specific funding for children's nutrition, and $5 million for the Red Cross.
Overnight several countries have conducted multiple airdrops over the Gaza Strip, dropping 61 tonnes of aid.
Jordan's military says the operation included two aircraft from the Royal Jordanian Air Force, two from the Federal Republic of Germany, one from the United Arab Emirates, one from France, and one from Belgium.
Pilot Major Pierrick, from the German French squadron, says it has been a large logistical operation.
"This operation is a collaboration between France and Jordan and other many countries and Jordan is in charge of the pre-delivery of food and supplies that we are delivering to Gaza."
United Nations agencies have said airdrops of food are insufficient and Israel must let in far more aid by land and open up access to the war-devastated territory.
On Sunday, Gaza's hospital officials say Israeli forces killed at least 33 Palestinians seeking food, with witnesses continuing to face gunfire at aid sites run by a U-S and Israeli-backed contractor, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
This Palestinian boy, Mohammed Mudeiris, was among those trying to get aid at Zikim, an Israeli-run distribution hub Zikim in the north of Gaza.
(Arabic* then translated into English): I'm the eldest of my siblings after my father. He was killed in an airstrike yesterday. I’m trying to ask anyone to give me a plate of flour or a meal from the aid that arrived today."
