RESIDENTS in Ashburton gathered on the streets of the town in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

Pots and pans were laid out on the floor as local people joined nationwide action to support those starving in Gaza,

There has been a silent vigil held every Friday at 5.30pm in the town, ever since October 7 2023 when the war started.

But last Friday, there there was a new dimension, when participants brought along empty pots and pans, to show their solidarity in recognition of a lack of food in the region.

One of the organisers, Yaara Lahav from the West Street Peace Group, said: ‘The idea was to show, literally, the situation that thousands of Palestinians are facing, with no food at all.

‘This is a totally avoidable crisis, which we wanted to highlight.’

This week the head of the World Health Organisation said that Gaza is suffering man-made mass starvation caused by the blockade of aid into the territory.

It has been reported that more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed trying to get the limited food aid that has been arriving in Gaza.

In Ashburton, a group of between 15 and 20 people stood in West Street outside Ashburton Arts Centre, in front of a line of pots and pans laid out on the pavement, to demonstrate their concern.

Another organiser, Pip Harris, said: ‘Our action was to symbolise the starvation in Gaza.

‘Today and every Friday we hold Palestinians and all those affected by the war in the Middle East in our thoughts.’