Protesters stage sit-in at New York Stock Exchange to spotlight Gaza attacks

A group of protesters staged at a sit-in outside the New York Stock Exchange Monday morning amid continued Israeli attacks in Gaza.

Individuals representing Jewish Voices for Peace, a Jewish-led pro-Palestinian group, arrived at the exchange at 85 Broad Street as part of an “unscheduled protest” just before the stock market’s official 9:30 a.m. opening, according to a New York Police Department spokesperson.

A number of arrests have been made, the spokesperson said, but an exact figure could not immediately be obtained. An NYSE representative said at least one person had handcuffed himself between an interior and exterior door.

In an email to NBC News ahead of the action, a JVP spokesperson said “hundreds” were planning to gather at the exchange to demand the U.S. government “fund FEMA, not genocide.”

“As Gaza is bombed, Wall Street booms,” JVP said in a post on X. “The stock prices of weapons manufacturers have skyrocketed this year. The U.S. war economy is profiting from genocide.” 

The Israeli conflict has continued past the one-year anniversary of the deadly October 7 attacks by Hamas militants in the region.

A renewed Israeli operation in northern Gaza put a refugee camp and hospitals in the area under siege over the weekend, with more than 200 people killed in a new Israeli offensive.

Early Monday, a fire broke out in an encampment housing displaced civilians following Israeli attacks in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza.

The Associated Press reported Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was now mulling a plan to seal northern Gaza in an attempt to “starve out” Hamas militants there, something that would also impact hundreds of thousands of Palestinians unwilling or unable to leave their homes.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.