The Israeli offensive on Gaza has sparked massive protests around the world. (Reuters)

WORLD CAPITALS — Massive demonstrations are planned in a number of European and Arab countries to protest the ongoing Israeli offensive against the Palestinians in Gaza.

Rallies are scheduled in a number of French cities on Saturday, July 1, to protest the incessant Israeli onslaughts, which entered its fourth day in a row.

Two marches are also planned for Sunday, July 2, in central Paris and before the Israeli embassy to protest the Israeli aggressions.

A series of rallies are also planned in Morocco to protest the ongoing Israeli offensive.

Two rallies are scheduled in front of the Moroccan parliament and the Palestinian embassy on Sunday and Tuesday respectively.

A major demonstration is also planned in the capital Rabat on Saturday, July 8.

"The rallies are a message to the international community and Arab governments that the Moroccan people reject world silence on the Israeli crimes," said organizers.

The Tawhid and Islah movement also called for "supporting the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation and rejecting normalization with the Zionist entity".

A special session of the Moroccan parliament was also called to express solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Earlier on Friday, hundreds of Austrians rallied in the capital Vienna to denounce the Israeli attacks.

"We want to show that the Europeans are for the right of the Palestinian people to live in peace and dignity," said Mohamed Abdul-Ghani, one of the participants in the rally.

A petition was also submitted by the protestors to the representative of the Vienna-based European Commission calling for a "fair European stance on the Palestinian people and stop the EU indifference to the daily Israeli crimes".

Muslims around the world took to the streets on Friday, June 30, following the weekly Muslim prayers to protest the ongoing onslaughts, chanting anti-Israel slogans and urging their governments to kick out the Israeli ambassadors.

Israel pounded Gaza with 30 air raids overnight as part of a wide-scale assault, the biggest offensive since pulling out of the territory in September.

Israel claims that it operation is aimed at setting free an Israeli soldier taken prisoner by resistance fighters, but the Palestinians say that Tel Aviv is set to topple the Hamas-led government.

Mistaken

The ongoing Israeli offensive against Gaza and abduction of Palestinian ministers and lawmakers have also drawn rebuke from many world countries.

"I find it hard to understand the abduction of (Palestinian politicians) and cannot see it as a contribution to Middle East peace," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Saturday.

"It is a very, very mistaken attitude," he added.

On Thursday, the Israeli occupation army rounded up 64 Palestinian officials, including eight ministers, 24 lawmakers, in a massive swoops across the occupied West Bank.

"It is not right to kidnap a soldier, but should the price of that be the abduction, capture of parliamentarians and local administrators?" Erdogan said.

Early on Saturday, Finland, the new EU president, also called on Israel to release the abducted Palestinian officials.

"I call on the Palestinians to immediately release the Israeli soldier they took hostage. At the same time, Israel must halt its military operations, free the Palestinian ministers and members of parliament and stop destroying civilian infrastructure in the Palestinian territories," Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen said in an interview with Germany's Die Welt newspaper.

Malaysia, the current chair of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the world's biggest Muslim grouping, also condemned the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

"What Israel has done could disrupt the peace process and threaten the safety of the Palestinians," Foreign Minister Syed Hamid told Malaysia's news agency Bernama late Friday during a visit to Amman, Jordan.

He said the attacks were violation of international law.

OIC Resolution

Meanwhile, Arab and Muslim countries have won support for a resolution to put the issue of the occupied Palestinian lands on the permanent agenda of the UN Human Rights Council.

The OIC resolution was adopted by 29 countries of the 47-member council with 12 against, five abstentions and one delegation absent, Reuters reported.

Regional powers, including Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria were among the resolution's sponsors.

Western countries, including Britain, Canada, France and Germany, as well as Japan, voted against the text.

The United States did not stand for election and only had observer status in the newly formed council.

The Arab and Muslim countries also secured support to hold a special session of the council next week to discuss the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.