Israel-Hamas war: Tens of thousands of Pro-Palestinian protesters march in central London to demand ceasefire - in pictures
It followed a similar protest last week where an estimated 100,000 people marched through the capital demanding an end to Israel's war on Hamas.
Tens of thousands of Pro-Palestinian protesters have marched in central London today as they continued to call for an immediate ceasefire amid an Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza.
Demonstrators took to the streets at midday on Saturday, with the march starting from Victoria Embankment and ending up at Parliament Square at 4pm.
It followed a similar protest last week where an estimated 100,000 people marched through the capital demanding an end to Israel's war on Hamas.
Protesters called for an "immediate ceasefire and an end to Israeli apartheid", with thousands of Metropolitan Police officers being deployed to deal with the crowds.
Demonstrators gathered with banners and posters and let off fireworks and red and green flares.
The Met had expected large crowds around Embankment, Westminster and Waterloo Bridges, the Strand, Whitehall and nearby roads.
It warned the force would be vigilant in responding to crime.
Police have faced criticism in recent days for not being tougher over slogans shouted by some protesters during the march last week. That protest was mostly peaceful with only a handful of arrests.
Watch: Aerials show huge pro-Palestine protest march in London
Footage showed large crowds setting off on the march organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, with the protest due to end outside the Houses of Parliament after passing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Downing Street office.
Several conditions were imposed under the Public Order Act, including that protesters should follow a specified route and should not gather in a specified area outside the Israeli Embassy.
It comes as Gaza has now faced nearly three weeks of unrelenting air strikes from Israel.
Recommended reading:
‘Simply a call for freedom’: marchers defend slogan at protest (The Guardian)
What does ‘from the river to the sea’ actually mean? (Sky News)
Israel says war with Hamas has 'entered new phase' with Gaza attacks (Telegraph)
The bombardment began after more than 1,400 people in southern Israel were killed by gunmen from Hamas - the UK-proscribed terrorist organisation which runs Gaza - during its assault on 7 October.
Since then, the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry has said more than 7,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory strikes, which have caused destruction to civilian neighbourhoods.
Israel has now expanded its ground incursion into Gaza.
'They need to stop'
Protestor Chrif El Amraoui told the BBC: “Just now marching, I'm crying because children are killed daily. Why? Why do they want more to be killed?”
Abdul Mahfuudi, who attended with his children, added: “The most important thing for us is for them to stop killing kids. They need to stop.”
The organisers of the march, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), said ahead of the protest that there had been previous attempts ”to demonise those who are marching”.
Speaking to Novara Media, Ben Jamal, the PSC director, said: ”Before we even began, before we called the first big march, we have the home secretary [Suella Braverman] suggesting that the police should look with suspicion, anybody raising the flag of Palestine, that it wasn’t inherently support for terrorism, but it may well be, so look with suspicion.
“There were people concerned, ‘are we going to be arrested if we’re carrying the flag of Palestine?’”
There was some criticism of the chanting of ’from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’, but Jamal said this was “a legitimate slogan of liberation”.
Following protests earlier this month, Braverman said the slogan was "widely understood as a demand for the destruction of Israel. Attempts to pretend otherwise are disingenuous".
Be wary of 'disinformation'
Earlier on Saturday, foreign secretary James Cleverly urged those taking part in pro-Palestinian protests to be wary of disinformation and manipulation.
When asked by a reporter if there was a risk of Iran or other foreign actors hijacking protests to stoke unrest, Cleverly said: "It is perfectly possible to support the Palestinian people but also to condemn Hamas."
"But sadly we do see people being manipulated, subjected to disinformation, distortion and sadly, I do think that a minority, a small minority, within those protests have got very much more negative aims."
Police will review CCTV and images
Commander Kyle Gordon, leading this weekend's policing operation, said: "We’ve been clear over the last week that wherever possible we will police up to the line of the law.
"Our most experienced and knowledgeable officers are working on the policing of these events, making sure we are utilising all legislation to its fullest extent.
"I would encourage anyone who sees any crimes happening in the moment to report it to the nearest police officer.
"Any footage or images of potential crimes should be reported to us – we have specialist teams whose role is to scour thousands of pieces of content identifying crime."
The Met Police added: “There is absolutely no place in London for hate crime.
“Officers will respond to any criminality where they see it and take decisive action, but there may be things not seen in the moment.
“We’ll also be reviewing CCTV and images/video shared by the public to identify offences.”
