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Officers arrested 69 people who refused to vacate the building, cited them, and released them from San Francisco County Jail, the San Francisco Police Department said in a statement. Another demonstrator was cited and released at the scene for the same charge, it said.

The demonstrators entered the building and occupied the lobby for several hours. The protesters posted signs on the front doors calling for an end to the .

Police officers repeatedly ordered the demonstrators to leave before they moved in and started detaining people, the police department said.

Consul General of Israel to the Pacific Northwest Marco Sermoneta said the protesters arrived around 9 a.m. at the Financial District’s high-rise but didn’t enter the consulate’s offices. He said his office was telling people that they might need to change their appointments.

San Francisco police officers were standing guard outside the building and told an AP journalist that it was not open to the public.

Earlier Monday, protesters had told the that they would not leave until they were forced to do so. Protesters inside could be heard chanting.

Israel faces growing over its offensive in Gaza, in which more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Its count doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants. Israel blames Hamas militants for civilian deaths, accusing it of operating from dense residential areas.

Hamas' in southern Israel triggered the war. Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and abducted about 250. in Gaza are believed to be alive, along with the bodies of 30 more.