Thousands Join Pro-Palestinian Rally In Geneva

Several thousand people demonstrated in a pro-Palestinian rally in Geneva on Saturday as Israel readied troops for an expected invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Police and organisers said around 6,000 people attended, national broadcaster RTS reported. The Tribune de Geneve newspaper gave the same figure.

Protesters marched behind a banner reading "Free Palestine" and chanted "Long live Palestine" and "Israel: assassins", while dozens waved Palestinian flags.

Demonstrators marched under heavy police escort.

Cardboard placards read: "What you're calling 'self defence' is actually a genocide", "End Israeli apartheid", "Boycott Israel" and "We want peace in Palestine and not a Palestine in pieces".

One boy held a placard reading: "Save the children of Gaza".

Israel pummelled northern Gaza with fresh air strikes on Saturday, one week on from the deadliest attack in its history, as it urged Palestinians to flee the area before an expected ground offensive against Hamas commanders.

There has been no let-up in Israel's response to the Islamist fighters' dawn raid, which saw them break through the heavily fortified border and gun down, stab and burn to death more than 1,300 people.

On the Gazan side, health officials said more than 2,200 people had been killed. As on the Israeli side, most were civilians.

A Swiss-Israeli dual national was among the victims of the Hamas attacks, Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said on Friday. The victim has not been identified.

The foreign ministry "currently has no information regarding other victims or injured Swiss nationals in these terrorist attacks," it said Saturday.

Between 10 and 20 specialists from Switzerland's disaster victim identification team could be sent to Israel in the coming days to help identify victims of the Hamas attack, the foreign ministry said Friday, following a request from Israel.

Their main task will be to identify the deceased in accordance with international standards, using characteristics such as DNA and fingerprints.

Around 880 people have so far returned to Switzerland on four special repatriation flights from Tel Aviv to Zurich.

However, Swiss International Air Lines has now suspended the flights, citing the expected Israeli ground offensive, cancelling two flights scheduled for Saturday.