Police used pepper spray on some of the thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters on Wednesday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was addressing Congress.
Shortly before Netanyahu began his speech, US Capitol Police said some protesters had turned violent.
“The crowd did not obey our orders to move back from the police line. We are using pepper spray on anyone who tries to break the law and cross that line,” police said in a statement.
The protest remained peaceful for the first few hours, and about half an hour before the speech, protesters began marching and were surrounded by police, who used pepper spray on them, injuring some protesters.
Authorities had closed off traffic around the Capitol amid unusually tight security ahead of the speech.
Referring to the protesters outside, Netanyahu said he had a message for them. “When the dictator in Tehran who hangs gays from cranes and murders women for not covering their hair is praising, promoting and financing you, you have officially become Iran’s useful idiots,” he said, using a Cold War-era term for people who are manipulated for a political agenda.
The stage was lined with banners, including one declaring the Israeli leader a “wanted war criminal,” a reference to an arrest warrant sought by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court. Netanyahu strongly denies the war crimes charges.
Nearby, protesters placed about 30 human-sized cardboard coffins draped in Palestinian flags. Traffic was blocked on several streets near the Capitol.
“I want all aid to Israel suspended because of its actions in Gaza,” said Bradley Cullinan, who said he had come to the region from Columbus, Ohio, 400 miles (640 km) away.
Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon took to the stage to condemn the death toll. “Nobody is free until everyone is free,” Sarandon said.
Dozens of Democratic lawmakers did not attend Netanyahu’s speech to Congress as they expressed dismay at the thousands of civilian deaths and humanitarian crisis caused by Israel’s campaign in Gaza.
Members of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group carried Palestinian flags and banners that read “Free Palestine” and “Anti-Semitism is not anti-Semitism,” while a group of young protesters danced to Arabic music and carried large banners that read “Stop arming Israel” and “Stop war crimes in Gaza.”
Palestinian advocacy groups and university students have staged months of protests in the United States against Israel’s offensive in Gaza, a Hamas-ruled territory where nearly 40,000 Palestinians have been killed and nearly all of the 2.3 million people displaced, according to health officials.
The Israeli military assault followed an October 7 attack by Hamas whose militants infiltrated Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage, according to Israeli figures.
ICC prosecutors say there are reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant, as well as Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed al-Masri and Ismail Haniyeh, bear criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.