Pro-Palestinian activists storm Biden's speech to the National Congress

Pro-Palestinian activists sought to draw attention to the war in Gaza during President Joe Biden's speech on the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

According to reporters from the congressional hall, a few minutes after Biden began his speech, some people in the audience held up a banner in the colors of the Palestinian flag that read: “STOP ARMAING ISRAEL.”

Videos of the incident shared on social media show the people sitting in front of the protesters and holding their “I [heart] Joe” signs to block the view of the banner while security officers repeatedly attempted to pull it down. Some in the crowd also chanted “We love Joe.”

A video posted by Akela Lacey of The Intercept on X (formerly Twitter) shows a man standing a few rows behind protesters hitting one of them in the head with a pro-Biden sign. In a follow-up post, Lacey wrote that the man's “colleagues eventually got him to stop.”

The organizers turned off the lights in this part of the auditorium as the activists were escorted out.

The Associated Press reported that the activists belonged to the “Abandon Biden” movement, which was recently renamed “Abandon Harris” to reflect the change at the top of the Democratic ticket. The group is calling on Americans to refuse to vote for the Democrats because of the party's support for Israel's war in Gaza.

Another group of activists in the room turned their backs to Biden during his speech, held one hand over their mouth and displayed a sign that read “Not another bomb” in the other, NBC News reported.

In his speech, Biden also addressed his administration's efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas and to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza.

“I will continue to work to bring the hostages home, end the war in Gaza and bring peace and security to the Middle East,” he said.

Meanwhile, Biden also spoke about the pro-Palestinian protests in Chicago.

“The protesters in the streets are right,” Biden said. “Many innocent people are being killed on both sides.”

Thousands of people took part in a peaceful march to protest the administration's continued support for Israel. A few dozen subsequently tore down a fence in front of Congress, and some of those who made it through the security perimeter were arrested, the AP reported.

U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as well as officials from Egypt and Qatar are trying to broker a deal between Israel and Hamas. Blinken said Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had agreed to the U.S. proposal and urged the militant group to do the same.

More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war so far, Gaza officials say. The war was sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on southern Israel, in which more than 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage.

The Israeli military announced on Tuesday that it had recovered the bodies of six dead hostages in Khan Younis.