On Saturday, thousands of protesters marched to parliament through the heart of London, demanding an end to the Israeli-Gaza conflict.
“End the genocide” and “Free, free Palestine” were chanted by demonstrators as they waved Palestinian flags.
In addition, a pro-Israel counter-protest featuring photos of some of the captives taken in Hamas’s October 7 attack on southern Israel that started the war was approved by the crowd at the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) march.
The group demanded that people show political parties that “they must act” by stopping to arm Israel and demanding a permanent ceasefire “if they want our vote” in light of the upcoming general election in the UK on July 4.
The protest came as Israel said its forces had rescued four of the hostages alive from a Gaza refugee camp.
Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 36,801 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
“It’s so clearly morally wrong what Israel is doing to the Palestinian people,” said one demonstrator, 35-year-old Canadian musician Thomas Rapsey.
“We want the bombing to stop,” he said.
Another protester, who asked to be identified only as Lucy, called Israel’s actions in Gaza “horrific”.
“We’ve seen a genocide on our TV now for eight months, and no one in the world seems to care or do anything about it.
“It’s been ignored by the world leaders and major institutions, so it’s important for me to feel that I could do something,” the 26-year-old research analyst told AFP.
While expressing worry over the number of Palestinians killed, both Keir Starmer, the leader of the main opposition Labour Party, and Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have stated that Israel has a right to defend itself under international law.
If all parties to the dispute agree, they are in favor of both the release of Israeli hostages and a ceasefire. In keeping with the Middle East peace process, they also support the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The British government has rejected the recent assertion made by a member of Starmer’s top team that the UK should suspend arms deliveries to Israel in order to halt an offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
1,194 individuals, primarily civilians, lost their lives as a result of the October 7 Hamas onslaught on Israel, according to an AFP count based on Israeli government statistics.
About 251 persons were taken prisoner by Hamas. There are currently 116 hostages in Gaza, 41 of whom the army claims are dead.
