Protesters with hands covered in red paint repeatedly interrupted a congressional hearing on US military aid Tuesday, demanding Washington stop funding Israel’s fight against Hamas.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin were appealing to the Senate Appropriations Committee for billions of dollars in military assistance to support Israel, Ukraine and other security costs.

Some two dozen spectators raised hands covered in paint in a symbol of the bloodshed in the Gaza Strip since Israel began its bombardment of the Palestinian territory after Hamas’s attack earlier this month.

Several wore messages of “Free Gaza” written on their arms and held signs demanding “No more $$$ 4 Israel,” while some cried out “Ceasefire now,” “Palestinians are not animals” and “Shame on you all.”

One man wore a shirt reading “Stop backing genocide.”

Blinken was forced to stop speaking several times as some demonstrators were escorted out by police.

President Joe Biden has asked Congress for more than $105 billion in security spending, including $14.3 billion for its staunch ally Israel.

Israeli troops and Hamas militants were engaged in “fierce battles” in Gaza on Tuesday, Israel’s military said, as tanks and armored bulldozers advanced through the ruins of the embattled territory, which the United Nations said is facing “unprecedented” humanitarian needs.

Israel’s response to the Hamas attack has now killed more than 8,500 people, according to the latest count given by the Hamas-run health ministry, many of them children.

The siege comes after the bloodiest attack in Israel’s history, when Hamas gunmen killed some 1,400 people in a brutal cross-border raid, according to Israeli officials.

A 24-year-old Indian student has been stabbed in the US state of Indiana and is said to be in a critical condition, according to a media report.

Varun was stabbed with a knife into the temple by the assailant Jordan Andrad, 24, at a public gym in the Valparaiso city of Indiana on Sunday morning for reasons that the authorities are still investigating, reported NWIU Times.

Following the incident, the attacker was arrested and is facing charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and attempted murder.

“Varun was attacked with a knife by his attacker. He was ultimately taken to a Fort Wayne hospital due to the severity of his injury and was reportedly given a zero to five per cent chance of survival. Varun’s condition is said to be serious after the violent attack,” the report said.

The attacker Andrade told the police that he had requested a massage that morning and walked into the massage room to find the other man, whom he did not know but found “a little weird.” Determining the other man posed a threat, Andrade said he made sure to react the “right way,” according to a charging document.

“Andrade then described (the man) as a threat to him so he, ‘just reacted,'” police said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched the ‘Mera Yuva Bharat’ — ‘MY Bharat’ — platform and said it will play a big role in nation-building in the 21st century.

At an event marking the culmination of the ‘Meri Maati Mera Desh’ campaign and the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav at the Kartavya Path New Delhi, the prime minister also laid an e-foundation stone of an Amrit Mahotsav Smarak and Amrit Vatika.

Before the launch, Prime Minister Modi offered soil into the Amrit Kalash and applied a ’tilak’ on his forehead with the ‘mitti’.

The Amrit Mahotsav Smarak and Amrit Vatika will come up near the India Gate.

In his address, PM Modi said the coming generations will be reminded of this historic occasion through the memorial and garden.

Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat) is an autonomous body which will help set the focus of the government on youth-led development and make the youths “active drivers” of development, the Union culture ministry said earlier.

The prime minister said it will play a big role in nation-building in the 21st century.