The soft toys, of different types and colours, were donated by members of the public and several organisations, and are meant to represent the more than 18,000 Palestinian children killed in Gaza by Israeli military forces.

The carnival drew crowds to Dataran Merdeka from early morning, Bernama reported.

The climax of the carnival was the arrival this evening of the Sumud Nusantara convoy, a solidarity movement involving several countries, bringing delegations from Malaysia’s northern, eastern and central zones.

The group of nearly 100 participants also included representatives from eight countries, including Indonesia, the Maldives, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

“This mission is not intended for war but to exert pressure and to serve as a humanitarian mission to reject the cruelty and massacre of the people, especially in Gaza, which continues to this day,” said Kamil Munim, the political secretary to the finance minister.

The convoy will be flagged-off by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim tonight.

Cinta Gaza Malaysia chief executive Nadir Al-Nuri Kamaruzaman said the convoy would leave in two groups on Aug 31 and Sept 4. An Asean group would depart for Spain and the other for Tunisia before both joined a global flotilla en route to Gaza.