ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Demonstrations in Israel’s main regional ally Turkey led swelling Muslim protests Sunday over the ground offensive in Gaza, as a Palestinian demonstrator was shot dead by Israeli troops in the West Bank.

However, a demonstration in Paris backing Israel attracted several thousand supporters.

In Istanbul, organizers claimed as many as 700,000 people had turned out for their protest. Police in Turkey refused to give numbers, but central Istanbul’s sprawling Caglayan square was packed with a sea of protesters.

Predominantly Muslim, non-Arab Turkey signed a military cooperation accord with Israel in 1996, but Ankara also has close ties with the Palestinians, whose cause enjoys widespread support, particularly among Islamist circles.

Thousands of Moroccans rallied in the capital Rabat, accusing Arab leaders of having failed the Palestinian people. The protesters also accused Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak of having "sold Gaza for dollars."

In Lebanon, thousands demonstrated outside the UN headquarters in Beirut. Lebanese riot police fired teargas and water cannon at about a hundred protesters near the US embassy compound in Awkar, north of Beirut, an AFP photographer said.

In Paris, several thousand demonstrators waved Israeli flags and sang Hebrew hymns to show support for Israel in its military offensive in Gaza, a day after a huge pro-Palestinian rally. About 12,000 demonstrators gathered on a street not far from the Israeli embassy, according to organisers, the CRIF, an umbrella group of French Jewish organisations. Police put the figure at 4,000.

In Greece, thousands of people marched for the second day to protest the Israeli action.More than 4,000 people joined protests outside the US embassy and the Israeli embassy in Athens, burning effigies of Bush and President-elect Barack Obama and the Israeli and US flags.

Norwegian police used tear gas to break up a demonstration outside the Israeli embassy in Oslo after the protesters started throwing rocks and eggs at them. Several hundred people took part in the demonstration, according to Norwegian media reports.

A couple dozen pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered outside the Hays-Adam hotel in Washington to greet Obama as he arrived to prepare his transition and meet his wife and daughters, who came a day earlier. Some held candles while others waved Palestinian flags and raised signs that read: "Obama Call for Ceasefire, Please."

In the Canadian city of Montreal, some 5,000 people braved the bitter cold to march on the Israeli consulate to demand a halt to Israel’s offensive.This demonstration followed several marches Saturday in Ottawa, Toronto, and Vancouver.

In Iraq, some 200 protesters staged a protest in the southern Shiite shrine city of Karbala to condemn Israel and express support for Palestinians.