Sea of support

Showing solidarity. Iraqis held a mass rally in Baghdad on Friday as thousands of protesters poured onto the streets of several Middle East capitals in support of Palestinians amid Israeli air strikes on Gaza in reprisal for a surprise Hamas attack. During the day, Israel's military asked some 1 million Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza and head to the southern part of the besieged territory. However, a senior US official said Israel supported setting up "safe areas" for civilians in the Gaza Strip ahead of an expected major offensive AP