Tens of thousands of people have rallied around the world, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon as Israel’s genocide against Palestinians completes a year.

Protesters gathered in dozens of cities on Monday to mark the first anniversary of the Hamas-led attack on Israel, as Israeli forces continue their operations in Gaza and Lebanon, raising fears of a wider regional war.

In New Zealand, pro-Palestinian demonstrators, who gathered on Monday outside Auckland’s TVNZ public television demanding a ceasefire, clashed with followers of a far-right fundamentalist Christian group, Destiny Church.

According to The New Zealand Herald, 35 police officers were at the scene to separate the rival groups. One protester was pepper-sprayed as police attempted to break the commotion that spilled over onto the road near TVNZ, according to the report.

Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said New Zealand will continue to call for a ceasefire, restraint and de-escalation, “not for retaliation and reprisal”.

“There is simply no military action that will reduce regional tensions and conflict,” Luxon said, calling for a “two-state solution” to end the conflict.

In Australia, crowds gathered outside the country’s largest mosque in Lakemba, a suburb of Sydney, before an afternoon rally.

Participants were seen waving Palestinian flags and standing on the footpath and the street which was blocked off for the event, according to The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper.

People in Pakistani cities also held rallies and demonstrations to express solidarity with Palestinians on the first anniversary of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Different political and religious groups organised a string of events in the commercial capital, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad, Multan, Sargodha, Hyderabad, and other cities.

Thousands of citizens, including students, women and children, came out of their homes, offices and schools to participate in the demonstrations.

A memorial event was also held in the Indian capital, New Delhi, as dozens of participants sang songs and raised slogans against the war in Gaza.

Other vigils, ceremonies and protests are planned later on Monday after a weekend of similar events across the world.

In the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, more than 1,000 pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside the US Embassy on Sunday, demanding that Washington stop sending weapons to Israel.

In Morocco, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in the capital, Rabat, waving Palestinian flags and calling to break off diplomatic ties with Israel, which the kingdom normalised in 2020.

Thousands also marched in support of Gaza and Lebanon in cities across Turkey, including Istanbul and Ankara.

At the Vatican, Pope Francis called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza and Lebanon, warning of the risk of an “even larger war”.

Thousands also marched through New York’s Times Square on Saturday, some carrying pictures of people killed in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza. In Washington, DC, a man set himself on fire as more than 1,000 people demonstrated outside the White House, demanding an end to US military aid to Israel.

Marches were also reported over the weekend in several European cities.

At least 26 Palestinians have been killed and many others wounded after Israeli forces attacked a mosque and a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah, the strip’s Health Ministry said.

“The number of martyrs brought to hospitals as a result of the occupation’s targeting of displaced people in the Ibn Rushd school and al-Aqsa Martyrs Mosque reached 26, with several more wounded,” the ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

“The Israeli occupation committed three massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, resulting in 45 martyrs and 256 injuries arriving at hospitals during the past 24 hours,” it added.

The ministry said the overall death toll since the war on Gaza began a year ago had reached 41,870, with 97,166 Palestinians injured.

In a statement, the Israeli military claimed, without providing evidence, that the mosque and school were being used by the Palestinian group Hamas as “command and control” centres.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military issued more evacuation orders on Sunday morning for large swaths of northern Gaza, ordering residents to flee to the already overcrowded “humanitarian zone” in al-Mawasi.

The orders came shortly after Israel on Saturday issued a similar warning to thousands of displaced Palestinians sheltering in central Gaza, saying its military was preparing to use “great force” against Hamas in the area.

Palestinian and United Nations officials say no place in the enclave is safe, including the humanitarian zones where Israeli missiles have hit several times.

“The war is back,” 52-year-old Raed from Jabalia told the Reuters news agency, before he and his family left for Gaza City.

“Dozens of explosions from air strikes and tank shelling shook the ground and buildings, it felt like the early days of the war,” he told Reuters via a chat app.

Nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced at least once since Israel began its war on Gaza on October 8. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced several times.

The Israeli army also announced it had surrounded the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.

“The troops of the 401st Brigade and the 460th Brigade have successfully encircled the area and are currently continuing to operate in the area,” the military said in a statement.

Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmud Basal said multiple attacks rocked Jabalia through the night, killing at least 11 people, adding that more people were trapped under the rubble.

Israeli forces have bombarded Jabalia regularly since the start of the war on Gaza, displacing nearly all its residents.