Thousands of Australians joined pro-Palestinian rallies on Sunday, organisers said, amid strained relations between Israel and Australia following the centre-left government's decision to recognise a Palestinian state, Reuters reported.

More than 40 protests took place across Australia on Sunday, Palestine Action Group said, including large turnouts in state capitals Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. The group said around 350,000 attended the rallies nationwide, including around 50,000 in Brisbane, though police estimated the numbers there at closer to 10,000. Police did not have estimates for crowd sizes in Sydney and Melbourne, according to Reuters.

In Sydney, organiser Josh Lees said Australians were out in force to "demand an end to this genocide in Gaza and to demand that our government sanction Israel" as rallygoers, many with Palestinian flags, chanted "free, free Palestine".

Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the umbrella group for Australia's Jews, told Sky New television that the rallies created "an unsafe environment and shouldn't be happening".