Pakistani police prevent pro-Palestinian protesters from moving toward US embassy in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Police in Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad have prevented a pro-Palestinian rally by a radical Islamist party from moving toward the U.S. Embassy, where demonstrators wanted to stage a sit-in against Israel’s strikes in Gaza. Police on Friday used batons on the demonstrators, angering hundreds of rallygoers who briefly blocked a key road and later staged a sit-in near a high-security area where the offices of the president, prime minister and parliament are located. Students from the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan party posted videos on social media, claiming they were beaten by police who did not allow them to move toward the American embassy for a peaceful rally to denounce the Israeli strikes on Gaza.