(Reuters) – Nearly 100 police were summoned to deal with 250 pro-Palestinian protesters who surrounded a Vancouver restaurant where Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was dining on Tuesday night, police said on Wednesday.
Trudeau is under pressure from Palestinian supporters to push for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas.
“Vancouver police deployed nearly 100 officers Tuesday night to disperse a protest outside a Chinatown restaurant where the Prime Minister was dining,” the force said in a statement.
“Police assisted in controlling and dispersing the crowd, while the Prime Minister was escorted out of the restaurant.”
A 27-year-old man was arrested for punching a female officer in the face, police said.
“Yesterday evening the Prime Minister was approached by demonstrators in Vancouver,” spokesman Mohammad Hussain said by email but declined to comment further.
Earlier on Tuesday, Trudeau said the “killing of women, of children, of babies” in Gaza must end, in his sharpest criticism of Israel since war against Hamas broke out over a month ago.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing Trudeau in a social media post, said “the forces of civilization must back Israel in defeating Hamas barbarism.”
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
