South African police fired stun grenades and water cannons in Cape Town to quell clashes between pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrators, AFP reports.

A prayer for Israel and the Hamas hostages held in Gaza was to be held in the early afternoon in an affluent area of Cape Town on the Atlantic coast, a popular place for family walks on Sundays.

But several hundred pro-Palestinian demonstrators gate-crashed the event, following a pro-Palestinian demonstration that brought thousands of people onto the streets of the port and tourist city, according to AFP journalists on the scene.