Seven people have been arrested in London after a rally in support of Palestine led to violent clashes in Trafalgar Square with bottles and flares thrown at police.
One man allegedly threw a wooden stick at the passing Met van next to Nelson's Column before being chased by officers and detained whilst jumping into a fountain in the square. The arrest sparked a fierce reaction from nearby Palestinian protesters, with a large crowd confronting Met officers by shoving and throwing objects at them, including bottles.
Police confirmed there were also two public order offences and one of criminal damage, as well as several breaches of crowd control measures. Largely peaceful protests took place in many major cities across the UK and Europe on Saturday.
Protesters chanted "Rishi Sunak, shame on you" and "Palestinians of all generations are being killed" as they gathered to show their support for the besieged territory today.
Fireworks were set off at around 1.30pm by a section of pro-Palestinian protestors on Oxford Street and a small scuffle broke out nearby. But other rallies in London, Edinburgh, Manchester, Liverpool and elsewhere were largely peaceful - and well-attended. In Manchester alone, more than 2,000 people gathered for a two-hour rally to show their support to Gaza.
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The demonstrations come as Palestinians began a mass exodus from the north of Gaza after the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) warned that more than a million people should evacuate towards the south to "save their lives". Israel has targeted Gaza in the wake of attacks by Hamas that have claimed 1,300 Israeli lives. Palestinian authorities say 2,000 people have been killed in Israel's bombing campaign.
Metropolitan Police had warned anyone showing support for Hamas or deviating from the Central London route - along Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square - could face arrest. Gathering outside the BBC headquarters in the heart of London ahead of todayâs march, hundreds shouted pro-Palestine chants, including "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free". The march left this location between 12.30pm and 12.45pm, and eventually reached Downing Street, where some chanted: "Rishi Sunak, shame on you".
Tearful protesters, including some wearing and waving Gaza flags, are gathering with signs and placards with messages, including âEnd Israeli Apartheidâ, âStop Israeli war crimes in Gazaâ and âFree Palestineâ. One woman chanted: "They are killing all generations of Palestinians." She and other protesters shouted: "We are all Palestinian" and "We want sanctions" during the march.
There was heavy security around the BBC building, which has already been daubed with what appears to be red spray paint. There were police officers watching on, as well as private suited security guards in front of the Langham Hotel, opposite Broadcasting House.
One of the demonstrators in Manchester, Hassan Galanni, said: "It is important to be here today, we canât turn a blind eye to what Israel is doing. How can one million people leave their homes in 24 hours. The elderly, the sick, women, children. Children are being bombed. Itâs genocide, a war crime.
"There must be peace in Palestine, but the way Israel is reacting means that will never happen. They are building hatred. The government, the US, the UN, have all got to do something, do all they can to stop the bloodshed."
A small group of protesters clashed with police in Trafalgar Square this evening as tensions flared following a largely peaceful day of protest.
Police have confirmed a total of seven arrests in connection with the pro-Palestine march in central London on Saturday.
(PA)
Met Police have said seven arrests were made during the rally today, including one for criminal damage and two for public order offences.
It tweeted:”As of 18:00hrs a significant policing operation in central London is still active. Following a review of the conditions in place at the start of the operation the Section 12 order which was in place has now been removed.
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“The Section 60AA which was also in place has been removed. However this will remain under review should it be proportionate to re-enact it. The Section 14 order remains in place.
“The procession has now ended and the majority of the crowd have dispersed. Seven people have been arrested on suspicion of offences including: Four breach of section 60AA, two public order offences and one criminal damage.”
The Met Police has said the decision to impose a Section 60AA during the rally was "not taken lightly".
A Met Police spokesperson said: "The Commander in charge took the decision to put in place a Section 60AA as part of today’s policing operation of the march in Central London. The law enables officers to have the discretion to ask an individual to remove any face coverings.
"The decision to put it in was not taken lightly and was done so as there was a reasonable belief of serious violence. Officers were specifically briefed ahead of working on this protest that today would be a highly emotive for the many thousands who wish to protest, and the legislation does not refer to religious face coverings.
"Officers are led by intel on the ground, and will only ask individuals to remove face coverings on a case by case basis." The Met Police has confirmed the Section 60AA order does not apply to people wearing niqabs and burqas.
Hundreds of people marched through Liverpool today in support of Palestine with a chant of "free Palestine".
The demonstrators, thought to be around 500 strong, made their way through the city centre. The huge group waved Palestinian flags and chanted as they headed towards the offices of BBC Radio Merseyside, after the national headquarters of the broadcaster were splattered with red paint by group Palestine Action.
The group then gathered outside the premises on the corner of College Lane and Hanover Street. And outside BBC Merseyside they made chants, including 'free Palestine' and 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free', called for an end to "Israeli occupation" and demanded the "liberation" of Palestine. They also heard impassioned speeches on the situation in the Middle East.
One protester said: "It's just not fair and just. Everyone's life should be the same. Everyone's life should be equal." Another added: "I would like to see that we're able to come to a dialogue. We need to get to the point where we come to a real positive solution for the Palestinians."
(Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)A minute's silence is observed outside Downing Street by for those killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
A series of speeches are delivered by pro-Palestinian supporters, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Palestine ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot.
A large canvas of the Palestine flag is held aloft and is shaken by supporters, accompanying a sea of smaller flags being waved.
Organisers of the pro-Palestinian march end activities on stage by asking for donations towards their campaign.
Fireworks are let off in the crowd as supporters dispersed from Whitehall.
A crowd surrounds a man in Parliament Square wearing a kippah with the Israeli flag on it, who is shielded by a team of Met Police officers.
Thousands march in central London in pro-Palestine protest as Israel is expected to start invasion of Gaza (Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock)After nearly two hours, the Manchester protest march reaches St Peter’s Square in the city centre.
Red and green flares, the colours of the Palestinian flag are let off - and after a bit more chanting, the crowds start to slope off home.
Protestors are pictured during a Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstration in Edinburgh today.
The rallies come after women and children were confirmed among the dead after civilian vehicles were blown up while being driven out of northern Gaza following an Israeli order to evacuate.
Palestinians started a mass exodus from after the Israeli Defence Forces warned that more than a million people should leave and head towards the south to "save their lives". The attack on the convoy was confirmed by BBC Verify, saying women and children - some aged between two and five years old - were among the dead, though it is still unclear who had carried it out.
Protestors are pictured during a Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstration in Edinburgh (PA)
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn addressed the thousands at a pro-Palestine rally in London, calling on political leaders to condemn Israeli's assault on Gaza.
"It is a day of solidarity and it is a day of hope," the independent MP for Islington North told the crowd.
He said that around the world people were standing in support of the people in Gaza.
"There are many who say that nobody should be here today because they'll be condoning terrible things. None of us are here to condone killing. None of us are here to condone occupation.
"None of us are here to allow this assault on the people of Gaza and the people of the West Bank to go on.
"Today, as we wave the Palestinian flag, let's hear it for the people of the West Bank, for the people of Gaza, for the people of the refugee camps, and say very bluntly to our political leaders in this country 'do not condone war crimes, do not condone the starvation and the denial of medicine to desperate people in Gaza or anywhere else'.
"If you believe in international law, if you believe in human rights, then you must condemn what is happening now in Gaza by the Israeli army."
Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks during the March for Palestine (PA)Overnight it emerged that an RAF flight had left Israel as part of a UK Government effort to get British nationals to safety.
A plane carried passengers to Cyprus, with the air force assisting the Foreign Office amid a limited availability of commercial flights.
Three Britons are confirmed to have died during last weekend's assault on Israel, but reports have suggested at least 17 could be among the casualties.
Pro-Palestinian marchers make their way down Whitehall to a stage erected outside Downing Street.
Sweatshirts with supportive Palestinian messages are being sold at roadside stalls.
Chants of "Rishi Sunak, shame on you" and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free" ring out among the crowd.
Dozens of police officers ware stationed outside the gates to the Prime Minister's residence as others patrolled the large crowd.
Scuffles have broken out between pro-Palestine protestors and a group of men holding England flags in the capital.
The clash happened at around 1.45pm as demonstrators passed Piccadilly Circus on their march through London. Around half a dozen men holding England flags and chanting "We love you England we do" were on a pavement as the protestors passed.
Pro-Palestine protestors began chanting "Free Palestine" before punches were thrown in a dramatic melee which involved more than 20 people. One man who was holding an England flag was arrested by police around five minutes later, Mirror understands.
People gather with placards and Palestinian flags to take part in March For Palestine (AFP via Getty Images)Emotions are naturally high as the protest gathers momentum is the capital. Supporters let off red, green and black flares and chanted "Free, free Palestine".
Several individuals jumped on top of a bus shelter on Regent Street before waving Palestinian flags.
Tensions briefly boiled over between a protester and a member of the public outside Hamley's toy store on the street, with the former shouting angrily at the latter and calling him "a liar".
People gather with placards and Palestinian flags to take part in a March For Palestine (AFP via Getty Images)Downpours haven't deterred communities to come together in Manchester to march through the city centre.
More than 2,000 people have gathered to show their support to Gaza. They've suddenly been caught in heavy rain, but are desperate to continue their charge this afternoon.
A video taken earlier - during clear and brighrt weather - shows numbers maraud down a high street.
(Phil Cardy)Fireworks are being set off by a section of pro-Palestinian protestors amid the London protest.
Security guards are standing outside some shops on Oxford Street as the demonstration, which has been peaceful, passes by.
The March for Palestine in London has largely been peaceful so far (PA)More than 2,000 people are estimated to be marching through Manchester’s famous curry mile in support of Palestine. Dozens of police officers tailed them into the city centre.
Hassan Galanni, one protester, said: “It is important to be here today, we can’t turn a blind eye to what Israel is doing.
“How can one million people leave their homes in 24 hours. The elderly, the sick, women, children. Children are being bombed. It’s genocide, a war crime.
“There must be peace in Palestine, but the way Israel is reacting means that will never happen. They are building hatred. The government, the US, the UN, have all got to do something, do all they can to stop the bloodshed.”
Pro-Palestine protestors in London have started their march through the capital. Thousands of people armed with flags and placards began walking at around 1pm today.
They left the BBC headquarters near Oxford Circus with red and green flares in the crowd. Police on horseback are watching the protest as well as a police helicopter circling over the demonstration.
Protestors are holding signs reading ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘Gaza: Stop the massacre’. They are chanting ‘We are all Palestinian’ and ‘We want sanctions’.
The group are planning to end their protest outside Downing Street at around 3pm.
Protesters hold up signs and flags during the pro-Palestine rally (James Veysey/REX/Shutterstock)Metropolitan Police has reassured residents across the capital it is monitoring the demonstrations.
In a video shared on X, formerly Twitter, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor says: "We are acutely aware of the emotions, the fear and the anxiety in our communities across London as a result of the conflict in Israel between Israel and Hamas." He outlines how Met Police prepares to keep people safe.
The protest in Manchester has grown to more than 1,000 people.
The crowd has set off on a march into the city centre chanting “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.
The crowd in Manchester grew to at least 2,000 people as they marched into the city centre chanting “Israel is a terrorist state”. In Liverpool 500 marched through the city chanting and letting off smoke bombs. They reached the BBC offices - where staff locked the doors.
The demonstrations come as Palestinians began a mass exodus from the north of Gaza after the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) warned that more than a million people should evacuate towards the south to "save their lives".
At the Manchester Stand with Gaza demo, Magda Sachs said: “I’m here because my father was a refugee. He was a refugee from Russia to Germany with my grandfather when he was a child.
“My uncle ended up in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin.
“We know what this feels like. It’s not right to do this to someone else.
“This is not happening in my name.”
Meanwhile, speakers on the stage told the crowd the police were monitoring them via a drone in the sky while leading chants of “free, free Palestine”.
Orly Goldschmidt, spokeswoman for the Israeli Embassy to the UK, earlier insisted that Israel was not targeting civilians, but admitted that innocent people would be casualties of the conflict with Hamas in Gaza.
"There will be innocent people who will pay tragically with their life, but this is a state of war and we have to prevent anyone from harming us again," she told Times Radio.
A journalists' car burns after it was hit by Israeli shelling in the Alma al-Shaab village (AP)The Metropolitan Police said there had been a "significant number" of reports from the public about potential terrorist content on the internet in the days since the Hamas attack last Saturday.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, urged people to report online content that appears to incite terrorist violence or activity.
He said: "When it comes to tackling the use of the internet to further terrorism, support from the public is essential. Following last week's horrific terrorist attack by Hamas, and the escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict, which has led to significant concern in communities in London and across the country, I want to thank the public for helping us by reporting potential terrorist content online to our Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU)."
Speaking at the Manchester protest, Ian Allinson, from the RS21 socialist group, said: “At the moment Gaza is under siege. Two million people denied water, fuel, food. It’s genocide and it’s appalling the British government is supporting it.
“It’s not right to collectively punish people. Israeli apartheid is the root cause of this. If a society denies basic rights the people will resist. For peace you have to have justice and equality.”
On Israel’s demand that over a million people have to move, he said: “There’s a meme showing someone telling fish in a barrel ‘I’m going to shoot you unless you move’. It’s impossible.”
Speaking at the Manchester protest, Ian Allinson, from the RS21 socialist group, said: “At the moment Gaza is under siege. Two million people denied water, fuel, food. It’s genocide and it’s appalling the British government is supporting it.
“It’s not right to collectively punish people. Israeli apartheid is the root cause of this. If a society denies basic rights the people will resist. For peace you have to have justice and equality.”
On Israel’s demand that over a million people have to move, he said: “There’s a meme showing someone telling fish in a barrel ‘I’m going to shoot you unless you move’. It’s impossible.”
In Manchester, protesters are handing out leaflets advising people what to do if arrested.
They are told to say "no comment" during any police interview and have been given the number for a solicitor and a legal hotline.
The leaflet also tells people they are entitled to an interpreter.
Speakers at the event lead the crowd in chants of "Palestine will be Free". Various groups including Socialist Worker, the Communist Party and the Unite Union are all in attendance.
There's an increased police presence at and near each of the gatherings today (Matthew Chattle/REX/Shutterstock)Photographs, including some taken by the Mirror, show hordes of protesters waving banners and placards at various rallies.
March for Palestine is about to start its movement through the heart of the capital.
Some protesters are handing out material, including leaflets, as the demonstrators gather size and pace.
Protesters are pictured at a rally organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa and other groups (PA)
Around 300 people have gathered in Platt Fields Park Manchester at a Stand With Gaza demo.
Many wave flags while others carry banners saying Freedom for Palestine. A large number of police are in attendance filming the crowd.
Omar Ahmed, from Rusholme, Manchester, said: “We are here because Israel is bombing children in their beds. We don’t support Hamas dis last week, no decent person could. But what Israel is doing is just wrong.”
In Liverpool, around 100 people gathered in the city centre at another pro-Palestine demo. They plan to match from Church Street to the BBC offices there.
Thousands are now gathering and chanting anti-Israel slogans, including “Israel is a terrorist state” in the area around BBC Broadcasting House.
Protester Massouneh Hillman, 70, appeared close to tears while shouting and waving two placards.
She said: “We don’t have a country. They’ve taken our country.
"We forgive them, but God help them. Make them stop. They are killing all generations of Palestinians."
Protesters gather for a March for Palestine in London (PA)Ahead of the March for Palestine, a Section 12 (3) Public Order Act 1986 has been authorised for the route of the march, which will be in effect from midday on Saturday.
This means those taking part, must observe the route from Portland Place to Regent’s Street, Piccadilly, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall. Any person participating in or associated with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign protest, must not deviate from this route, or they could be subjected to arrest.
The protesters in London must stick to a rigid route, police say (Mirrorpix)The BBC headquarters in the capital was daubed with what appears to be red spray paint today.
Heavy security is now around the Broadcasting House, from which BBC News is based.
There are police officers watching on, as well as private suited security guards in front of the Langham Hotel, opposite Broadcasting House.
Red paint covers the entrance to the BBC at Portland Place (Matthew Chattle/REX/Shutterstock)
