Hundreds gather in Cork to celebrate impending Gaza ceasefire 

Hundreds of people gathered in Cork today to celebrate the impending ceasefire in Gaza, which will come into effect from 8.30am Irish time on Sunday. 

Protests have been held in the city centre by the Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign (CPSC) group each Saturday since October 2023, with people rallying to show their support for Palestinians and their outrage at the ongoing conflict.

News came through late on Friday that a ceasefire agreement had been reached between the Israeli Government and Hamas, which will initially see 33 Israeli hostages released over the next six weeks, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Hamas has agreed to free three female hostages on day one of the deal, four on day seven and the remaining 26 over the following five weeks.

The remainder, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first.

Following this announcement, the CPSC has said that the agreement in question is “practically identical" to the one proposed and agreed to by Hamas in May 2024.

Since May, thousands more Palestinian people perished, leading to arrest warrants from The Hague for Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister, Yoav Gallant.

Micháel Martin last year affirmed that the State will carry out these arrests should the Israeli leaders enter Ireland.

Speaking at today’s rally, a spokesperson for CPSC told the crowd that protests will continue for at least six weeks while the delicate first stage of the ceasefire is implemented.

"We have a responsibility to continue our work in opposition to the crime of apartheid, which Israel is continuing to tighten in the West Bank.

“This deserves our attention, this deserves our work and we will keep marching and protesting and speaking to the people of Cork until the apartheid is abolished."