The demonstration began at 2pm, shortly after two busloads of protesters from Sydney arrived.

As the Sydney people joined the rally, they chanted, ''Israel, USA, how many kids have you killed today?''

The protest organisers, the Australians for Justice and Peace in Palestine, had arranged 800 paper plates opposite the embassy to represent the number of deaths since the Israeli operation began on December 27.

Among the speakers were former Israeli staff sergeant Avigail Abarbanel, Catholic Bishop Pat Power, and Greens MLA Caroline Le Couteur.

Addressing the crowd, MsAbarbanel described the Israeli soldiers in Gaza as ''war criminals''. She said the Israeli operation was not a war but ''a massacre''.

Bishop Power appealed to both sides of the conflict, Hamas and Israel, to recognise the efforts of the United Nations to ''break the cycle of violence''.

''We all know violence begets violence I can understand the frustration of Hamas, but what about the consequences of firing these rockets? And we know the way in which Israel responds disproportionately.''

Keysar Trad, of the Islamic Friendship Society, implored the protesters to put pressure on the Australian Government to ''unequivocally condemn'' the Israeli attacks on the Palestinians.

Gareth Smith, of Byron Bay, provided 10 shoes, including one in a child's size ''to represent the 200 children killed'', to be thrown at the Israeli embassy as an insult.

As the shoes were thrown, the rally roared with approval.

After the speeches the protesters marched to the US embassy, where they were addressed by Enas Sammack, a Palestinian from Gaza. MsSammack accused the US of double standards for not condemning the Israeli attacks.

''We will not tolerate Israeli terrorism,'' she said.

The protesters then made their way to the Lodge, arriving at about 3pm. Greens MLA Caroline Le Couteur told the protesters she deplored the silence of the Australian Government in the face of ''a humanitarian disaster''.

She said the Greens supported the ''positive actions'' of the UN, but they needed to go further. ''There needs to be an immediate ceasefire. Killing people does not solve anything After that we need political negotiations to lead to a long-term solution in the Middle East which respects all the inhabitants.''

The rally was monitored by a large police presence, which included about 30 members of the Specialist Response and Security team. Police reported no incidents.