Anti-Israel protesters target Macy's AGAIN and target Black Friday shoppers after disrupting store's NYC Thanksgiving parade - on same day hostages are released amid temporary ceasefire

Anti-Israel protesters targeted Macy's again on Black Friday after disrupting the store's iconic Thanksgiving Day parade in new York City on Thursday.

Demonstrators outside Macy's flagship store in midtown Manhattan on Friday yelled at people as they headed inside to shop, chanting 'Why are you shopping? Bombs are dropping!' 

It was one of several pro-Palestine demonstrations across the city on Black Friday; Demonstrators also shut down 34th street and 6th avenue in Manhattan with a massive Palestinian flag, as officials warned the protest would cause traffic delays.

Moreover, anti-Israel protesters went after the PUMA flagship store as they claimed to be calling 'attention to the brand’s sponsorship of Israel’s football association.'

The demonstrations came as the first group of hostages were released from Gaza after 48 days of captivity as part of a truce deal between Israel and Hamas that went into effect this morning.

The protests also came just a day after Macy's 2023 Thanksgiving parade was hit by pro-Palestine protests amid heightened tensions over the Middle East crisis.

A group of activists disrupted the procession by leaping over the barricades to block the route and unveil a large 'Free Palestine' banner.

Around 30 protestors halted the parade along Sixth Avenue, with reports indicating some may have glued themselves to the road. 

Loud boos rang out from the crowd as the white jumpsuit-clad protestors poured fake blood over themselves and held up the parade for thousands, as they appeared to try and link the crisis in the Middle East to climate change, shouting: 'Liberation for Palestine and climate.'

Police arrested 34 pro-Palestinian protestors who disrupted the iconic parade. 

Hours after the parade disruption, hundreds gathered for what organizers called the 'Thankstaking for Gaza and Indigenous Resistance Everywhere.'

The anti-Israel protesters accused the New York Times of genocide outside its offices as they marched through the city.

The protesters targeted the New York Times as they passed by its headquarters, chanting: 'Every time media lies, a neighborhood in Gaza dies' and 'New York Times, you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide.'

At least five protesters were detained by the NYPD as the march was dispersing near Bryant Park, according to multiple reports.

The protesters also defaced the Stephen Schwarzman building of the NY Public Library with fake blood and messages such as 'you fund genocide.'

One of the protesters said: 'Schwarzman is Blackstone’s billionaire CEO & a former Trump advisor who is ardently pro-Israel & even opened a Blackstone office in Tel Aviv.

Meanwhile 13 Israeli women and children and 11 Thai and Filipino hostages, who were kidnapped and taken into the territory by Hamas in its October 7 attack on Israel, were finally freed today after an agonizing wait.

Israeli media reported the hostages had been transferred by Hamas to the Red Cross, then on to the Egyptians, before crossing into Egypt. Live footage showed the hostages leaving Red Cross vans and entering a trauma center at the Rafah Crossing to undergo medical examinations.

Qatar's foreign ministry said that ten Thai prisoners, and one Filipino citizen had been released, alongside the 13 Israeli prisoners, who are now back in Israel and will soon be reunited with their families, the IDF confirmed.

Going the other way were 39 Palestinian prisoners - 24 women and 15 teenagers - who have been released by Israel as part of the deal that paused the fighting in the Gaza Strip for the first time in seven weeks which was sparked by Hamas's attack, Qatar's foreign ministry confirmed.