Large Syria rally denounces "Israeli crimes"

DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Thousands of people attended a government-sponsored rally in the centre of the Syrian capital on Monday to condemn what they called "Israeli crimes" in Gaza.

"God is greatest. Death to Israel. The blood of the children in Gaza will not flow without revenge," chanted young students from state schools.

Other protesters carried banners that said: "Stop the Israeli crimes. America is the ultimate devil."

Slogans with a religious tone are rare at demonstrations in Syria, which has been ruled by the secular Baath Party since 1963. Only public gatherings licensed by the government are allowed.

The demonstrators raised Palestinian and Syrian flags and pictures of President Bashar al-Assad. Palestinian and Iraqi refugees also took part in the rally.

Syria hosts exiled leaders of Hamas and Jihad, the Islamist Palestinian groups, as well as leftist factions.

The Israeli offensive has killed more than 100 Palestinians in Gaza. Its forces pulled out of the coastal strip on Monday after a U.S. appeal to end the offensive, which Israel said was to stop Palestinian rocket fire.

On Sunday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called on Muslims to rise up and their leaders to hit Israel "in the face with their nations' anger" over the offensive in Gaza. He also blamed Iran's other arch foe, the United States, for the violence in Gaza.

(Reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis; Editing by Caroline Drees)