Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has acknowledged how many Australians are affected by the situation in Gaza after the protest across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, but failed to commit to a timeframe on recognising Palestinian statehood.

The crowds were forced to halt and turn back due to public safety concerns after an overwhelming number of people attended, dwarfing the 10,000 initially expected.

Protesters were praised for an incident-free event that saw no injuries or arrests, despite police concerns about the significant risk it posed. 

Albanese said he supported protesters who"peacefully express their views" and conceded that "Australians do feel strongly about this issue".

"Yesterday's march was peaceful and an opportunity for people to express their concern about what is happening in Gaza and of the images we have seen," he said this afternoon.

"It is not surprising so many Australians have been affected in order to want to show their concern at people being deprived of food and water, and essential services.

"Demonstration and democracy, it is important people be able to express themselves."

Today, his government approved an additional $20 million in humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Albanese, however, did not divulge any additional details around Australia's stance on Palestinian statehood, after hisgovernment confirmed recognition was a matter of"when, not if" but did not commit to a timeframe.

The United Kingdom, Canada, and France have all moved to recognise Palestine at a UN meeting in September if there are governance reforms.

Hamas has refused to disarm until the establishment of an"independent, full sovereign Palestinian state" but Albanese said he would not support Hamas having any role in a future Palestinian state.

Western Sydney Labor MP Ed Husic attended yesterday's historic march and called for Albanese to recognise Palestine as a state.

"It's in our interests to do it today," he toldToday this morning.

"We've got a number of conditions we believe are important as part of that process. There's no better way to see those conditions met than to be with people early on.

"I think the sooner the better, but it's up to the prime minister, obviously, who's juggling a lot of different considerations before making that call, but I think he would get massive support out of Australians if he did it today."

NSW government assesses court decision over precedent fears

NSW Premier Chris Minns was vocal about his concerns over the protest in the days leading up to it, and stood by his decision to oppose the organisers.

"I accept the decision of the court," he told reporters today.

"I also accept that people came to the protest and acted peacefully.

"They demonstrated, they followed police advice, the organisers worked with police in difficult circumstances."

Minns estimated the protest cost taxpayers millions. 

He said his government was examining the court's judgment to determine whether a precedent had been set, adding that"we can't shut down the bridge every weekend".

"We're examining the judgment to determine whether this is a precedent or there are circumstances in relation to the judgment that specifically make it applicable to just that form 1 application," he said.

"No one should believe it's open season on the bridge, however. Police still have to make a judgment on public safety and the logistics associated with it."

Minns would not announce whether he would introduce legislation to attempt to stop protests across the Harbour Bridge, but said he is"not ruling anything out".

Police Minister Yasmin Catley commended police for their last-minute crowd management, saying"never before has there been a protest of that magnitude in our city".

"For such a large crowd emerging in the city, something of this magnitude would take absolutely months, many months," she said.

"In fact, the marathon takes at least 10 months to organise the logistics to ensure that that happens without incident.

"The police made it very clear that they did not have enough time to put in place the contingencies required for such a large crowd into the city."

The organisers, Palestine Action Group, said it was an"absolutely incredible day" and "everyone should be so proud of themselves".

"Minns predicted chaos. Instead, we had what we knew we would, a beautiful outpouring of humanity, marching side by side to end a genocide and demand our government sanction Israel," the group said in a statement.

"We've sent an enormous message to the world."

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, former NSW premier Bob Carr, and several Labor and Greens MPs joined the crowd of 100,000 people yesterday to march in protest against starvation in Gaza.