By Luke Costin and Alex Mitchell

Police chiefs have issued a rare joint call amid heightened concerns people at pro-Palestine rallies planned over the weekend could again display terrorism symbols.

The statement, signed by the heads of every police force in the nation, warns inciting violence on race or religious grounds is illegal including through the public display of prohibited symbols.

Praising or encouraging terrorism was also a serious offence, the statement said.

“There is a range of state and commonwealth legislation that can be used by police to uphold community safety and maintain social cohesion,” the police forces said on Friday.

Monday marks the first anniversary of the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas and the start of a counter-attack that has all but levelled the homes of 2.1 million Gazans.

Debate has swirled around how appropriate it is to demonstrate on the date of a massacre, although organisers have said the events would be vigils to remember the thousands of Gazans killed in the past year.

NSW Premier Chris Minns will attend a vigil organised by Jewish leaders, but has called for pro-Palestinian groups to pause activities for the day.

Rally organisers have resisted political pressure and court action to cancel events this weekend, dismissing suggestions their gathering would be provocative or sickening to the Jewish community or risked public safety.

Protests on the previous weekend were co-opted by supporters for Lebanese militant group Hezbollah – a prescribed terrorist organisation in Australia – following Israel’s assassination of the group’s leader.

Yellow Hezbollah flags and images of leader Hassan Nasrallah were carried through Sydney and Melbourne. One woman has been charged.

A deal struck between police and protest organisers late on Thursday will result in Sunday’s Sydney event starting at Hyde Park, rather than the usual Sydney Town Hall venue.

NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna said organisers gave an undertaking that no flags, portraits, symbols or other support for any prescribed terrorist organisation would be permitted.

“It is now up to them to ensure that does occur,” he told ABC Radio on Friday.

Octogenarians Jacki and Neil Dand said they planned to attend the Sydney rally, having made the long trip from their home on the Hawkesbury River more than 40 times for the weekly pro-Palestine rallies over the past year.

They were baffled at the recent police opposition given the long history of peaceful demonstration.

“We have the right to protest and they have no reason to stop us,” Ms Dand, 84, told AAP.

“I don’t know why (the protests) are a problem now, just because it is this weekend.”

Hamas massacred about 1200 people and took another 250 hostage during a surprise invasion on October 7, 2023, according to Israel.

A counter-attack in occupied Gaza has killed more than 41,000 people, according to Palestinian officials, with the majority of its more than two million residents facing starvation.

More than 3.1 million Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank, which Hamas has never controlled, have also faced tightened restrictions, the United Nations says.

Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton on Friday falsely suggested police said they would have zero tolerance for any pro-Palestinian rallies on October 7, but he welcomed signals that supporters of Hamas and Hezbollah would face arrest.

“People who are out supporting glorifying leaders of terrorist organisations, they should be held to account and they should be condemned for their actions,” he told reporters.