Protests on the anniversary of Oct. 7 draw crowds across California

Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied across California on Monday to protest Israel’s war in Gaza and Lebanon.

The demonstrations come on the anniversary of Oct. 7, when Hamas militants in Gaza attacked Israel, killed an estimated 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages.

At USC, hundreds of protesters shut down the intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and McClintock Avenue in the afternoon. The crowd held pro-Palestinian signs and chanted, “Free, free Palestine,” according to video posted on social media. Protests were also anticipated at UCLA later in the day.

Some students at Pomona College in Claremont walked out of their classes shortly after 10 a.m. to call on the university to divest funds from Israel.

Jewish organizations across Los Angeles also were scheduled to host events to commemorate the anniversary of the attack.

In the last year, Israeli military operations in Gaza and, more recently, against the Hamas-allied militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon, have been the focus of protests. The Gaza Health Ministry says that more than 41,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including many women and children, have died in Israeli attacks. In Lebanon, hundreds have been killed and more than 1.2 million people have been displaced, according to the U.N. Refugee Agency.

Mayor Karen Bass, in an X post on Monday, urged people to continue “prayers for safety and peace.” The mayor on Sunday marked the anniversary of the Hamas attack at a candle-lighting ceremony at the Museum of Tolerance, where she expressed her support for L.A.’s Jewish community. She said that “as conflict rises in the Middle East,” antisemitism has grown around the world.

“Let me be unequivocally clear,” she said. “Antisemitism has absolutely no place in L.A.”

Vice presidential candidate and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Monday visited the “Nova Music Festival Exhibition” in Culver City. The exhibition is a remembrance of the music festival that was the setting of the Hamas attack on Israel.

Walz sighed deeply as he passed by tables adorned with shoes, hats and bags representing the victims in the attack.

“Our prayers are with the loved ones of the victims as we mark one year since the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. The people of Israel must never again face the terror that Hamas caused on October 7,” Walz said in a statement.

He noted that last month he met with families of Americans who were still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.

“It’s time for a hostage deal and ceasefire that ensures Israel is secure, all hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends, and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, freedom, and self-determination,” he said.

Demonstrations marking the anniversary of the attack occurred across the country throughout the weekend.

On Sunday, demonstrators filled San Francisco’s Mission District to protest what they said was the oppression of Palestinians. And in Orange County, demonstrators gathered along Jeffrey Road in Irvine — one of the city’s main thoroughfares — waving Lebanese and Palestinian flags and holding signs that focused on the human cost of the war.

Elsewhere, masked demonstrators set up an encampment outside Ohio Democratic Rep. Greg Landsman’s house in Cincinnati early Sunday. Landsman is Jewish.

Protests were also underway in New York City on Monday.

Times staff writers Seema Mehta, David Zahniser and the Associated Press contributed to this report.