Hundreds of protesters have gathered outside the Israeli consulate in Manhattan to protest the air attacks on the Gaza Strip.

Just blocks away at the United Nations headquarters, world leaders urged Israel and Hamas on Tuesday to stop fighting in Gaza and southern Israel. Israeli warplanes have been targeting Hamas-related installations to force a halt to militant rocket attacks.

Protesters Tuesday waved Palestinian flags and chanted “Free Palestine.”

One demonstrator told an AP reporter that she’s “shocked” at Israel’s actions. She says Israel is “punishing an entire population for the actions of a few.”

Meanwhile, close to 1,000 Arab-Americans and others marched through the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, Mich. on Tuesday evening, waving Palestinian flags and shouting slogans to protest Israeli military strikes against the Gaza Strip.

Protesters braving 30-degree weather filled eight blocks of a major thoroughfare in Dearborn, widely seen as the heart of Arab America.

In France, more than 7,000 protesters marched in a dozen cities across the country to denounce the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip , which continued for the fourth day running Tuesday.

In Paris, around 3,500 people according to police – 5,000 according to the organizers – marched towards the French foreign ministry on the Quai D’Orsay by the River Seine, shouting slogans and carrying banners denouncing Israel.

Police said another 700 marched in the western city of Nantes, while demonstrations in at least a dozen cities and towns across the country each attracted hundreds of protesters.

In London, between 200 and 300 demonstrators protested peacefully outside the Israeli embassy, after the two previous days’ rallies had descended into violence.

This demonstration was smaller than on Sunday and Monday, when scuffles erupted between police and protestors against Israel’s air raids, leading to a total of 17 arrests over the two days.

Iranian demonstrators stormed the British diplomatic compound in Tehran Tuesday evening to protest London’s stance towards the Israeli onslaught, state news agency IRNA reported.

In Washington, between 2,500 and 5,000 people protested outside the US State Department chanting slogans like “Stop the Killing, Stop the War, Stop the Genocide of Palestinians” and with some carrying banners saying “Stop US Aid to Israel”.

In Los Angeles, around 500 protestors and pro-Israel activists faced off peacefully near the Israeli Consulate.

In Algeria, about 100 people staged a protest in the capital Algiers after a call from politicians and editors of writers’ and artists’ magazines. They observed a minute’s silence in memory of the dead.

In Panama City, around 200 people protested outside the Israeli embassy to condemn Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip.

In the Bulgarian capital Sofia, about 200 protesters called on the Bulgarian government to support the peace efforts. Demonstrators carried pro-Palestinian banners and others denouncing Israel.

(Source: 1010WINS / AP / AFP)