( dpa ) - Around 5,000 Yemenis took to the streets in the capital Sana'a Tuesday to denounce what was termed the "siege" imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip.
Protesters shouted slogans including "Shame on you, shame on you, the people of Gaza are under siege," as they gathered outside a compound housing offices of the United Nations missions.
They held up placards condemning the "silence" of Arab leaders towards the Israeli actions in Gaza. "Oh Arabs, wake up," read one placard. Another read: "Oh Arabs until when this silence continues?"
Organizers handed over a letter to UN officials addressed to the organisation's secretary general Ban Ki-moon urging him to intervene to ease the Israeli blockade on Gaza.
On Monday, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh called on his fellow Arab leaders to hold an emergency summit to discuss the Israeli lockdown of the Gaza Strip and military operations in the territory.
Saleh made the request in a phone call to Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa, whom he asked to call for a meeting at the foreign minister level to prepare for an Arab summit early in February.
The Yemeni leader denounced the Israeli actions in Gaza as "insulting to all Arabs," according to the state news agency Saba.
Israel reopened two of its border crossings with the Gaza Strip Tuesday morning to humanitarian aid and diesel fuel, after nearly four days of a total lock-down of the coastal salient.