A crowd of about 1000 people protested outside the US consulate in Killarney, Johannesburg on Friday against Israel's air strikes on Gaza.

The crowd was also protesting against the US's supply of military hardware to Israel.

The crowd chanted "Allahu Akhbar" and "Please free Palestine", while they were addressed by speakers from the SA Council of Churches and the Congress of SA Trade Unions.

"We are conveying the message that Israel is an apartheid state," said Cosatu's Bongani Masuku.

The organisers of the protest had planned to throw shoes at a large picture of US president George W. Bush, but this did not go as planned.

"The target we were supposed to throw shoes at was burned by our comrades," an organiser told the crowd.

Sapa