Smoke canisters in the colours of the Palestinian flag have been set off in Malmö's central square during a demonstration in Sweden against Israel's participation in tonight's second Eurovision Song Contest semi-final.
Protesters are carrying signs displaying images of Gaza civilians who have been injured amid the Hamas-Israel conflict.
A heavy police presence arrived at Malmö's main square earlier ahead of the protests.
Officers in more than five vans arrived in Stortorget ahead of Eden Golan, representing Israel, taking to the stage in Malmö Arena.
The Swedish Police Authority positioned themselves at various entrance points to the square as tourists walked around taking pictures of the fountain and the town hall.
A pro-Palestinian march will take place in the afternoon, which a spokesman for the force said would cause "disturbance to traffic".
The organisers of the march say the demonstration will take place at 3pm, with it ending at Molleplatsen park.
Officers from Sweden, along with Norway and Denmark, have been regularly patrolling Malmö Arena, the city centre and the Eurovision village amid Israel facing calls to be excluded from the contest because of the war in Gaza.
Gaza’s Health Ministry puts the Palestinian death toll at more than 34,000 people.
Golan's song 'Hurricane’ was reworked from a previous track called ‘October Rain’, which was thought to reference the Hamas attacks on Israel.
There have been continued demonstrations in Sweden over Israel's participation, and the week of Eurovision has already seen small gatherings in Malmö and at the Eurovision village when Austrian 2014 winner Conchita Wurst was on stage.
Golan, 20, will compete against Norway's Gate, San Marino's band Megara, Switzerland's Nemo and Danish entrant Saba, who called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the "safe return" of Israeli hostages in a joint statement in March.
The artists rejected calls from Palestinian groups to boycott the music contest, saying that they "firmly believe in the unifying power of music".
Golan, who has been singing and dancing on stage since she was a child, told ITV News this week that she could not have asked "for a better year to be representing my country".
Organisers of Eurovision, the European Broadcasting Union, hit out in April against the "unacceptable and totally unfair" abuse of competitors amid "the backdrop of a terrible war in the Middle East".
The group, whose members approved Israeli broadcaster Kan, has taken a strong stance, as in previous years, against political messages at Eurovision and flags and symbols from non-competing countries.
Despite the position, Tuesday's first semi-final saw former Swedish contestant and opening act Eric Saade wear a keffiyeh pattern material, commonly used by people who want to show they are pro-Palestinian, on his arm.
The EBU said that he "chose to compromise the non-political nature of the event" and it "regrets" the broadcast.
In an Instagram story, Saade said that the material was a "way of showing a part of my origin" and was a gift as a child from his father, who is of Palestinian origin.
He also said: "I just wanted to be inclusive and wear something that is authentic to me - but the EBU seems to think my ethnicity is controversial.
"It says nothing about me, but everything about them."
It also told Irish finalist Bambie Thug to change their Ogham message, which referenced the artist's call for a ceasefire, before going on stage as the EBU maintains this could have broken the rules that are "designed to protect the non-political nature of the event".
There were shouts at the Israeli rehearsals yesterday, which reportedly included boos and people saying "free Palestine".
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