Police arrested approximately 100 protesters outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City as demonstrators rallied against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of his address to the UN General Assembly.
Among those arrested were Oscar-winning actor Susan Sarandon, Emmy winner Hannah Einbinder, Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, and New York City Council member Chi Osse.
The protest was organised by the advocacy group Jewish Voice for Peace and drew around 200 people wearing identical white T-shirts printed with slogans including "Fund people not bombs", "No war", and "Free Palestine".
Protesters blocked traffic. After police ordered them to disperse via loudspeakers, some moved to the sidewalks. Officers then surrounded those who remained seated on the pavement, chanting "Netanyahu go to hell", before escorting them to police buses.
"What's being done to Gaza, the obliteration of an entire society, in our name, with our tax dollars, this is our responsibility to speak out against, and Netanyahu has no right to use the platform of the United Nations to justify these atrocities," said Manijeh Moradian, a 50-year-old university professor of Iranian and Jewish heritage.
Inside the General Assembly hall, Netanyahu took the stage to defend Israel's actions in the Middle East as he sought to counter growing international isolation ahead of Israel's upcoming elections. Dozens of delegates walked out during his speech.
Rights groups accused the UN of hosting a "war criminal" by allowing Netanyahu to address the assembly.
Separately, pro-Palestine protesters gathered on the steps of the New York Public Library in Manhattan, waving Palestinian flags and carrying banners reading "New York rejects Zionism" and "Palestine deserves freedom".
Rabbi Yitzchok Deutsch, a representative of Neturei Karta International, said Netanyahu was "using our religion, our identity, to justify all these crimes". He also sent a message of gratitude to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani "for his courage to do whatever he can to arrest" Netanyahu.
Protester Melissa Zuniga questioned why Netanyahu was allowed to speak at the UN "when he has an international warrant for his arrest".
