Police disperse anti-Israel protesters in Baku

Several dozen Azeris attempted to picket the Israeli embassy in the capital, Baku, but were swiftly dispersed by police.

The protest, organized by the banned Islamic Party of Azerbaijan, took only 10 to 15 minutes. 

Police rounded up the demonstrators, bundling them into a bus and driving them away.

“Down with Israel, the killer of women and children,” a woman chanted outside the Hyatt hotel, which hosts the embassy.

The picket was held to mark al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day and in protest against Israeli attacks on Gaza.

More than 800 Palestinians, some 80 percent of them civilians including children, have so far been killed in the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

Azerbaijan, a mostly Shiite Muslim nation of 9.5 million, has close political, economic and military ties with Israel. 

The Jewish state gets about 40 percent of its oil supplies from Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan signed a $1.6 billion contract with Israel in 2012 on the purchase of high-tech weapons, including drones and missile systems.

Bakudaily.az