Data provided to SBS News from international conflict monitor ACLED shows there have been 50,122 Gaza-related protests around the world since 7 October 2023, when Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people in Israel and took 250 hostages, unleashing a devastating retaliation in the Gaza Strip.

In contrast, just 3,120 pro-Israel demonstrations have been held over the same time period — more than two-thirds of these (2,159) were held in Israel. Another 1,680 events globally have been either neutral or supportive of both sides.

In Australia, around 40 events included Lebanese community representatives or featured criticism of Israel’s actions in Lebanon as well as in Gaza, but no protests were recorded to be exclusively in solidarity with Lebanon.

Australia among top 10 countries for pro-Palestinian protests

When it comes to large-scale protests — those attracting more than 10,000 people — Australia is second only to Yemen in terms of the number of pro-Palestinian protests held.

Following October 7, the group started holding protests at least once a fortnight. Lees says they wanted to act quickly after October 7 because they knew Israeli retaliation to the Hamas attack would be severe, pointing to comments made by then-Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant.

“What they ended up doing has been and continues to be even worse than we imagined.”

Support for Palestinians among neighbouring countries

In compiling the data, ACLED relies largely on media reporting of events, which is analysed by regional partners and researchers.

“The Houthis organise these events almost weekly, and there are certainly hundreds of thousands [of protesters] on a large portion of these — sometimes it could be a million,” Hammond says.

The survey found 80 per cent of Jordanians expressed solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, and 72 per cent of those in Lebanon and Egypt also did so. These countries do not appear in the top 10 countries for protests.

A ‘very big’ global movement

The state-controlled media landscape in these areas also reduces the reporting of events, he says, something ACLED relies on to help pull together its data.

They include most countries in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Can protests make a difference?

“Clearly, this shows that mass protest movements can force governments to change their policies, and we should take heart from that,” Lees says.

“British support of the French initiative provided cover — credentials everyday Australians would understand,” Fathi says.

Australia’s path to recognition

It said it “categorically rejected” the UN inquiry report, which it labelled “distorted and false”.

“This kind of understanding of public sentiment has perhaps sped up movements that were already in [play] in Australia.”

Protests haven’t swayed US authorities

The country has been a staunch supporter of Israel and last month denied a visa to Abbas to attend the UN meeting this week.

“It remains a regular driver of demonstrations to this day, reflecting its continued importance as a political issue during the Trump administration.”

‘Remarkable’ turnout in Australia

The pro-Palestinian protest movement in Australia culminated in the massive turnout for the Sydney march on 3 August — one of a number of significant protests across the country — but data shows the number of demonstrations has gradually declined in the almost two years since October 7.

“Both of [those wars] saw huge demonstrations, but [you] did not see consistently demonstrations of at least thousands, week after week, for nearly two years now.

Data covers demonstrations that occurred between 7 October 2023 and 5 September 2025.