Over 150 people gathered outside the presidential palace on Monday evening to protest the start of a multi-day meeting of the Gaza Board of Peace in Cyprus.

The protest was organized by a coalition of advocacy groups and left-wing parties, including Alliance Against the Far Right, Fascism and Racism; Accept LGBTI; Kisa; Akel and Volt.

Protestors criticized Cyprus for allowing the meeting to happen in the country, although Cypriot authorities have said Cyprus was not an organiser of the meeting. They repeated chants including “Nikos, Nikos, you can’t hide. You’re supporting genocide,” referring to President Nikos Christodoulides, and “Justice is our demand. No support from Cypriot land.”

The Board is a body organised by United States President Donald Trump that is meant to manage Gaza. However, over six months after its creation, it has not taken over power from Hamas. Protestors criticised the Board as a group of wealthy interests not respecting Palestinian self-determination.

Speakers included AcceptCY secretary Stephanos Stavros Evangelides as well as the actress Popi Avraam.

“There is no such thing as an innocent when the meeting is a disgrace,” a speaker from the organisation Palestine Solidarity Action said during the protest, challenging the government’s position that it did not help organise the meetings. “When you rent your house to criminals, you do not get to claim clean hands because you’re sitting in the garden.”

Protestors also put up a display of bloodied sheets with children’s shoes and toys, along with poems written by Palestinian poets and in support of the Palestinian people, to represent the tens of thousands of children killed in Gaza since the Hamas-led attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.

The location of the Board of Peace meeting is at an undisclosed resort, and there have been conflicting reports over whether the meeting will last for two days or three days. It was not possible to confirm on Tuesday whether the meeting had gone ahead as planned due to the lack of public information.

Participants include leaders of the group, including Tony Blair, and members of the committee of Palestinian officials who are meant to replace Hamas as the governing force in Gaza, according to The Times of Israel.

Blair planned to meet with President Nikos Christodoulides ahead of the Board of Peace meetings, but those plans were scrapped due to a flight cancellation, and the two now plan to speak by phone.