The police violently suppressed a protest on Wednesday with pepper spray and water cannons in the capital. Authorities arrested 174 people and reported 65 injured officers, according to the Tagesschau daily.

Since the outbreak of violence in the Middle East, German authorities have banned numerous demonstrations in several cities against Israel’s aggression, local media reported.

Despite the restriction, more than 1,000 pro-Palestine demonstrators gathered in downtown Frankfurt last weekend, a law enforcement spokesman said.

Riot units used a water cannon against the protesters and violently broke up the resistance. Subsequently, officers arrested more than 100 demonstrators in the city, in the region of Hessen, the official announced.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the demonstrations anti-Semitic and a glorification of violence and noted that he would take tougher measures against several movements against the repression in Gaza.

Some politicians like Herbert Reul, from the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU), called for increased repression and punishments against associations that take to the streets on behalf of the Palestinian population.

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