ABOUT 80 people played dead on a busy town centre street this evening WEDNESDAY in protest at Israel’s bombing of Gaza.

The protest was staged on Linthorpe Road in Middlesbrough at a spot where the Teesside Palestine Solidarity Campaign has been holding weekly peace vigils for the past three weeks.

Organiser Nesrein Bashir, a mother-of-three, said there had been a positive reaction from the public as the death toll rises and the images of destruction are shown in newspapers and on television screens.

She said: “The public are supportive, especially when they see children killed and centres for disabled and elderly people destroyed. People can see this is not a war of two equals and people are getting a lot more information for themselves from social media. It’s been warm from the public. There’s been no negative response.

“I’m not Palestinian myself. This is a humanitarian response.”

The Israeli Government said its offensive is a response to a rocket fire from Palestine militants, Hamas.

So far more than 1,300 Palestinians and 58 Israelis have been killed. The conflict, now in its 23rd day, is the longest between Israel and Hamas but there is still hope that a ceasefire can be negotiated.