Tens of thousands of Capetonians are making their way to Parliament in support of Palestinians.

CAPE TOWN - The Cape Town city centre is a hive of activity as tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators continue making their way to Parliament.

Many protesters say the march is to highlight the plight of Palestinians as a war continues to rage in Gaza.

According to the United Nations, more than 1,300 Palestinian civilians have been killed in Gaza.

Israel maintains it's defending itself against Hamas' rocket fire into the country.

The Parliamentary precinct is flooded with pro-Palestinian demonstrators who are chanting, singing and clapping in the streets.

Cape Town traffic officials have their hands full with motorists coming from all directions causing a gridlock in the CBD.

Demonstrators young and old are singing in unison, many holding up placards with pro-Palestinian messages emblazoned on them.

Some posters read "stop the slaughter" while another had "boycott apartheid Israel written on it.

Dozens of police officers are keeping watch over the march; a voice blasting from loudspeakers on a bakkie earlier urged protesters to remain calm.

Palestinian officials say at least five people have been killed in renewed Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.

Three died in an apparent attack on Hamas the other two were killed as they rode a motorbike.

Israel claims they were militants.

Early on Friday a three day truce between the Israelis and Palestinians expired and the deadly conflict resumed.

The Isreal Defence Forces' Peter Lerner insists they are trying everything they can to avoid civilian casualties.

"We have no intention of striking civilians, we also accompany every strike we carry out with legal counsel, we discuss it, we think through it very thoroughly in order to minimise the civilian impact and indeed we are faced with a huge challenge."