Thousands of Moroccans protest after Hamas leader's killing

Thousands of Moroccans protested in Rabat on Saturday in support of Palestinians and to condemn normalisation with Israel, holding portraits of killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, AFP journalists reported.

Hamas called for a "day of rage" on Friday for the burial of its chief Ismail Haniyeh, killed two days earlier in a strike in Iran which the Islamist movement and Tehran have blamed on Israel.

Waving Palestinian flags, and brandishing pictures of Haniyeh and a cardboard coffin adorned with his image, thousands of people marched to the parliament building with black and white keffiyeh scarves, which are symbols of the Palestinian cause, draped across their shoulders.

"Greetings from Rabat to our Gazan friends and to the Al-Qassam (Brigades)", the crowd chanted, referring to the armed wing of Hamas.

"The people want the end of normalisation", they also chanted, a message also carried on their placards, the AFP journalists reported.

Some in the crowd burnt an Israeli flag, the journalists saw.

"Ismail Haniyeh was a leader of Palestine, he is a symbol that motivates us to protest," Halima Hilali, 64, told AFP.

The war in Gaza "is a shame for humanity" she added.

Nabil Nasseri, 42, who travelled from the neighbouring city of Sale, said, "Demonstrating is the least we can do to help our Palestinian brothers, I think all Muslims should do it".

"We cannot have relations with a group of criminals, we want the end of relations" with Israel, he added.

The rally was organised by the National Action Group for Palestine, which brings together leftist groups and the Islamist Justice and Development Party.

Since the beginning of the Gaza war on October 7, sparked by an unprecedented Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, several large demonstrations have taken place in Morocco calling for the end of normalisation, while open opposition to diplomatic ties had previously been limited.

Morocco established official ties in Israel in 2020 as part of the US-led Abraham Accords.

The North African kingdom has officially called for "the immediate, complete and permanent halt to the Israeli war on Gaza", but has not publicly discussed undoing normalisation.

Hamas and Tehran have promised to avenge the death of Haniyeh, who was in Iran for the inauguration of the country's new president, raising fears of a flare-up in the region amid the war in the Gaza Strip.