Overview

• Supreme Court Justice Belinda Rigg on Saturday dismissed a NSW Police bid to ban the march on public safety grounds, securing participants’ immunity from obstruction offences
• Organizers said protesters carried pots, pans and Palestinian flags to spotlight UN-warned famine and civilian starvation in Gaza
• NSW Police estimated about 90,000 marchers while organizers claimed up to 300,000, prompting deployment of roughly 1,000 officers for crowd control
• Around 3pm authorities issued geo-targeted text messages to halt northbound progress and guided the crowd back to the CBD to prevent a potential crush
• The protest ended peacefully with no arrests reported and has intensified debate over protecting the right to assemble alongside calls for expanded humanitarian aid to Gaza