People march during a protest in support of Palestinians and calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in downtown Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024. AP
Many of the marchers carried banners and placards denouncing the "genocide" in Gaza, which has been under relentless bombardment and siege by the Israeli military.
Some carried Palestinian flags and shouted slogans denouncing Israel. Others had banners thanking South Africa for having brought the case against Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
South Africa accused Israel of breaching the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, set up after World War II and the Holocaust.
In its ruling on Friday, the ICJ said Israel must prevent genocide in its war with Hamas and allow aid into Gaza, but stopped short of calling for an end to the fighting.
The ruling was denounced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as "outrageous" and while many countries welcomed the ruling, others, such as Britain expressed reservations.
Spain, one of the most critical voices in Europe of Israel's offensive in Gaza, was one of those to welcome Friday's ruling.
Relations between the two countries have soured over Madrid's position on the issue.
Israel recalled its top diplomat in Madrid in November after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed doubts about the legality of Israel's war in Gaza. She returned in January.
'Children are dying'
"They have been without water, without food, without anything, for almost 110 days," one Madrid demonstrator, 54-year-old Lobna Elnakhala, said of the situation in Gaza.
"Children are dying and living in a very difficult situation."
Some banners called for sanctions to be levied against Israel.
The Madrid authorities put the turn-out at 20,000.
The Palestinian health ministry said that the Palestinian death toll in Israeli strikes on Gaza has climbed to at least 26,257 people since the war broke out on 7 October.
On Saturday, Israel continued bombing civilian targets across the Gaza Strip despite an ICJ ruling on Friday mandating that Israel refrain from carrying out any acts that could be deemed genocidal against the Palestinians
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians continued to battle against the rain and cold conditions in different parts of Gaza.
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