A few Democratic delegates protest against US arms sales to Israel

Stop Arming Israel. That was the message of a few delegates on the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday.

The sign, held up during US President Joe Biden's speech, was quickly wrestled away from the protesters and the lights in that section of the gathering were turned off.

The convention comes less than a week after the Biden administration approved a $20 billion arms sale to Israel.

Over 40,000 Palestinians, many of them women and children, have been killed in Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza.

It was launched on 7 October last year following a cross-border attack by Palestinian militants in which more than a thousand Israelis were killed and over 200 others taken hostage.

Michigan Democrat delegate, Liano Sharon, said the sale of arms to Israel mattered a lot to him because he is a Jew.

“I was always brought up to believe that never again, means never again for anyone, anywhere ever. Period. And that's not what's happening right now,” he said.

“What's happening right now is that we are we are continuing to fund and support an ongoing genocide, the mass murder of children. And it needs to stop.”

Outside the centre, thousands of people took part in a mostly peaceful pro-Palestinian protest, calling for an end to the war.

People angry the United States’ support for Israel’s offensive in Gaza, are seeking changes in the Democratic platform, with disruptions expected for high-profile speeches at the convention.