Demonstrators lift flags of Palestine and placards during a march calling for an end to war in the Gaza Strip and protesting the normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel, on Mohammed V avenue in Rabat on Oct. 5, 2025. (Credit: Abdel Majid Bziouat/AFP)
Tens of thousands of Moroccans demonstrated Sunday in Rabat against the "massacres" of Palestinians in Gaza and their country's normalization with Israel, nearly two years after the start of the war.
"Open the crossings and stop the massacres," "Gaza, forgive us," and "Moroccans stand with Palestine," chanted the crowd in unison as they marched along a main thoroughfare in the city center. Many demonstrators wore keffiyehs and waved Palestinian and Moroccan flags, while others held signs calling to "save the children" and "stop starving Gaza."
They responded to the call of various organizations, including a coalition grouping Islamists and leftist parties.
"The war has reached an unprecedented level of horror. We are witnessing a genocide of the Palestinians," Mohamed Baraka, 56, told AFP. Protesters also voiced their opposition to Morocco's normalization with Israel, sealed at the end of 2020. Fatima-Zahra al-Mouloua, 27, explained she was protesting "also to make (her) voice heard against normalization."
Several large-scale demonstrations have taken place in the kingdom since the start of the war in Gaza, in support of the Palestinians but also demanding an end to the normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel. The kingdom has officially called for "an immediate end to the war" without questioning normalization.
Nearly two years after Oct. 7, Israeli and Hamas negotiators are expected Sunday in Cairo for indirect talks on the plan of U.S. President Donald Trump, who aims to end the war in Gaza and achieve the release of hostages.
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