 Protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza blocked traffic for several hours on the northbound Interstate 5 freeway in downtown Seattle. Organizers and attendees said they were protesting to draw attention to the increasingly dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza and to decry American support for Israel's military campaign. Organizers included the Palestinian activist group Palestinian, the Seattle chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, a progressive Jewish organization that has called for a ceasefire, and other groups, dozens of demonstrators sat across all five lanes of the highway bringing northbound traffic to a halt, while several other protesters on nearby overpasses held pro-Palestinian signs and cheered in support of the blockade. Traffic at one point was backed up more than six miles, according to the Washington State Patrol on the social media platform X, police gave a dispersal order and the protesters were cleared after more than three hours, authorities said. The latest protest action in Seattle is one of several regular demonstrations in major cities calling for Israel to halt the bombardment of Gaza.