Pro-Israel, pro-Palestinian protesters clash in Montreal

Canadian police used tear gas Sunday following clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protesters in Montreal, as the worst violence in years raged between the Jewish state and Islamist militants.

Several hundred demonstrators, draped in Israeli flags, had gathered in a central Montreal square to express solidarity with the Jewish state.

Although the protest had begun peacefully, tensions ratcheted up with the arrival of pro-Palestinian demonstrators and clashes soon broke out.

The SPVM, Montreal's city police force, declared the protests "illegal," and squads of riot police intervened, using tear gas to separate and disperse the two groups, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

The police spent much of the afternoon in pursuit of the pro-Palestinian protesters, who spread out and regrouped in commercial streets in the city center, which are frequented by many passers-by.

Several thousand pro-Palestinian demonstrators had gathered Saturday in central Montreal to denounce what they said were Israeli repression and "war crimes" committed by Israel in Gaza

Pro-Palestinian protests were also held throughout Saturday in multiple Canadian cities, including Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver.

Israeli strikes killed 42 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, the worst daily toll in almost a week of deadly clashes.