PHILADELPHIA – Drexel University fenced off areas of its campus and added extra security measures on Monday as a result of a pro-Palestinian protest on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in several major cities around the world on Saturday to demand an end to bloodshed in Gaza, as the conflict in the Palestinian enclave approaches its first anniversary and spreads in the wider region.

Some wore keffiyeh scarfs, waved Palestinian and Lebanese flags and held a large cardboard image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with red paint symbolizing blood across his face.

The war in Gaza, which started on 7 October last year, has seen more than 41,000 Palestinians killed and decimated the Strip. Almost 100 Israelis are still being held hostage by Hamas, with fewer than 70 believed to be alive.

Hundreds pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied in Congo Square Saturday night calling for a ceasefire and an end to the Israel-Hamas war that started in Gaza a year ago and has since spread to other fronts in the Middle East.

As pro-Palestinian protestors reflect on the last year, they continue to call for a ceasefire and an immediate arms embargo.