Berlin/London  - Thousands of Europeans gathered in cities across the continent Saturday to protest the ongoing Israeli offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Aside from scuffles in the German cities of Kassel and Duisburg, where anti-Israeli protesters had to be separated from pro-Israeli demonstrators, very little violence was reported across the continent.

Most protests were focused either at national leaders - calling on them to lend diplomatic support to Mideast peace negotiations - or at the Israeli and US embassies in various cities.

Several thousand protesters gathered at Trafalgar Square in London. Speakers called for the British government to recall its ambassador to Israel while about 200 demonstrators, many of them children, cradled dolls to symbolize civilian Palestinians who have been killed in the offensive, which has now entered its fourth week.

Germany's biggest demonstration took place in Berlin as about 6,000 people gathered near the Brandenburg Gate.

Several thousand also gathered in the Italian capital of Rome, with protesters hefting placards denouncing the "massacre of the Palestinians." Several also displayed Stars of David overprinted with swastikas.

In the Greek capital of Athens, about 4,000 people demonstrated near the Israeli and US embassies as some protesters burned the flags of those countries. Eyewitness accounts said many of the participants seemed to be of Arabian descent.

Additional demonstrations were also reported in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria and in Bern, Switzerland. dpa