Pro-Palestine rally blocks key San Francisco bridge during APEC

Thursday saw the San Francisco Bay Bridge, a vital commuter route into the city hosting the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, stopped by demonstrators demanding a truce in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

200 individuals, according to the organisers, participated in the protest, which also demanded an end to US military assistance to Israel. One of the organisers posted on social media that police had arrived and created at least one riot line.

Emergency agencies in the area alerted people to the blockage on the bridge that connects Oakland and other East Bay cities to San Francisco during morning rush hour.

Several social media images revealed demonstrators had created a human chain that was connected by cars bearing placards that read, among other things, “Free Palestine”.

It looked like a few demonstrators were resting on the white sheet-covered tarmac.

(With agency inputs)