Australia PM 'devastated' as police and protesters clash over Israeli leader's visit

Australia's prime minister says he is "devastated" by scenes of violent clashes between police and protesters in Sydney during a demonstration against the Israeli president's visit.

"These are scenes that I think shouldn't be taking place," Anthony Albanese told local media on Tuesday.

His comments came hours after police arrested 27 people at a mass rally in Sydney on Monday night. Earlier, rally organisers had failed in their court bid to overturn police powers that limited their right to demonstrate.

Albanese stood by his decision to invite Isaac Herzog to Australia after the Bondi shootings, saying it would help the Jewish community heal, despite objections from pro-Palestinian groups.

Fifteen people, including a ten-year-old girl, were killed on 14 December after two gunmen shot at crowds at a event celebrating the Jewish festival of Hannukah.

Video footage of the protests - which drew an estimated crowd of 6,000 people - outside Sydney's Town Hall and surrounding areas appeared to show several physical confrontations between police and protesters, including police apparently punching protesters and dragging away Muslim men who were praying.

Josh Lees from rally organiser Palestine Action Group said the violence between police and demonstrators on Monday evening was the "worst" he has seen in recent years.

"We should have had the right to march," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) radio.

He said "all of this could have been avoided" if police had allowed the group to march from Town Hall to either the New South Wales Parliament or Hyde Park.

But under new police powers introduced after the Bondi shootings, protests in those locations were banned.

New South Wales (NSW) Premier Chris Minns defended the police response, telling Channel 9's Today programme that authorities had been "put in an impossible situation last night". He later urged the public "not to look at a 10-second clip without the full context".

Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna said police had been "threatened, jostled and assaulted" during "a number of melees, rolling fights" and authorities were "significantly outnumbered by the protesters and the people who wanted to act in a violent and offensive manner."

Another protest is planned for Tuesday evening outside a Sydney police station, with organisers calling for charges against protesters to be dropped and for police officers who had used physical force to be investigated.

Pro-Palestinian groups had objected to Herzog's visit, citing a UN commission last year which concluded that Herzog was among Israeli leaders who "incited the commission of genocide" against Palestinians in their speeches and statements.

It came after Herzog said "it's an entire nation out there that is responsible" for the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, and was also pictured signing a shell to be dropped on Gaza. His comments formed part of the legal case brought by South Africa in the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Herzog has condemned the UN report, which he said took his words out of context, while the Israeli foreign minister called it "distorted and false".