A woman has been charged after allegedly walking down a busy street in Sydney while carrying a burning Israeli flag in protest at escalating violence in the Middle East.
Police were conducting patrols at Lakemba in Sydney's south west on Tuesday night when they were alerted to an unauthorised protest of about 200 people in a reserve on The Boulevarde.
Officers contacted the organiser to assist with the safe facilitation of the protest, but about 9:30pm spotted a woman allegedly weaving through traffic while holding a burning Israeli flag.
Police took the flag off her, and as it was being extinguished the woman allegedly ran from officers.
She was detained a short time later before being issued with a move-on directive.
The 48-year-old woman was on Wednesday issued with a court attendance notice for behaving in an offensive manner in or near a public place and wilfully preventing free passage of a person or vehicle.
She is due to appear at Bankstown Local Court on July 8.
The protest comes as tensions flare in the Middle East, sparking the worst violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 2019.
The Gaza health ministry said 23 Palestinians, including nine children, have been killed and 107 wounded by Israeli strikes in the enclave since clashes surged on Monday.
Israel disputes the account, saying it had killed at least 15 fighters from Hamas - the dominant force in Gaza - and allied factions.
It said at least six people were reported wounded in southern Israel.
