Protest erupts in Times Square after assassination of Hamas, Hezbollah leaders

On Wednesday, protests were held in New York City's Times Square in reaction to the assassinations of two Hamas and Hezbollah terror leaders. Extremists torched an American flag and held up portraits of slain Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and the current Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, the New York Post reports.

Some of the demonstrators were seen carrying Hamas and Al-Qassam flags, which was the Palestinian terror brigade that carried out the Oct. 7 massacre of Israelis, according to video footage of the event.

This comes in response to the Tuesday killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was reportedly assassinated at his residence in Tehran. Top Hezbollah military commander Fuad Shukr was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. The roughly 300-person demonstration coincided with a pro-Israel event in midtown at which a former Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Jonathan Conricus was delivering a speech. The two groups ended up clashing. Footage from Freedom News TV captured some of the events. 

Some of the phrases yelled by the anti-Israel extremist group included chants of "From New York to Gaza, globalize the intifada" and "From the river to the sea Palestine will be free.” Other phrases yelled by the group included: "There is no god besides Allah" and "Israel, we know you, you rape children too." Tension increased when the pro-Palestinian protesters confronted individuals waving Israeli flags near the pro-Israel event, which was attended by a few hundred people.

A group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators surrounded a pair who were holding Israeli flags and threw an unknown liquid substance on them. The attack resulted in a woman wearing a pro-Israel shirt launching an unknown spray on the attackers. A man accompanying the woman told NYPD her response was in self-defense before officers moved to separate the two groups, according to video footage captured at the scene. The Palestinian protesters "chose violence," said one Israel supporter at the demonstration, per the NYP.

New York City has been inundated with pro-Palestinian demonstrations since Hamas launched a terror attack on the Jewish state on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,000 Israelis. At least 250 people of many different nationalities were taken into Gaza and held as hostages. More than 100 hostages remain in Gaza, and Israel said they do not know if they are dead or alive.