Thousands of people have gathered in central London to express their support for Palestinians after three years of “genocide” carried out against them by Israel.
The demonstrators, many wearing keffiyehs and holding Palestine flags, gathered on the Embankment at midday on Saturday. Some carried placards reading “End the genocide” and “Free Palestine” as they marched towards parliament. A bride and groom appeared to be among those in attendance and a two-minute silence was held to reflect on the lives lost in Gaza.
Protesters were calling for the UK government to stop supplying arms to Israel, which various bodies – including the UN, Amnesty International, B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, the latter two of which are Israeli-based – have said is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
A ceasefire was declared a year ago but Israeli airstrikes have continued in Gaza. In the last year, the overall death toll has risen by a further ۱,۴۰۰ people. Settlers have also ramped up their attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank. According to UN figures, ۲۳۰ Palestinians were killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers in ۲۰۲۵.
Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, shared a video from the march on social media. “Three years on, Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and the West Bank continue, and so does the solidarity of the British people. Louder, bigger and not going anywhere. Thank you all,” he said. By Saturday afternoon, organisers said ۲۵۰,۰۰۰ people were at the march.
The Metropolitan police have imposed conditions on the event – which is organised by the Palestine Coalition, which has organised more than ۳۰ mass demonstrations since October ۲۰۲۳, with a counter-protest by Stop The Hate – to “minimise the risk of serious disruption to communities”.
The Metropolitan police posted on X saying: “The front of the procession has now entered Whitehall where a rally will take place.
“Several arrests have been made so far including a woman and a man with placards declaring support for proscribed organisation Palestine Action.
“We have also arrested a number of protesters on suspicion of criminal damage after they climbed on to the Battle of Britain memorial on Victoria Embankment.”
The national march is the first held since the foreign secretary, Ed Miliband, announced sweeping sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements and declared the UK government would take the official position that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank was unlawful in its entirety. He also told the Commons that settler terrorists supported by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government are committing ethnic cleansing in the West Bank.
At Labour party conference last month, Miliband appeared to reference the marches, which at their peak regularly numbered hundreds and thousands of people, telling the audience in Liverpool: “I want to say to the millions of people in this country and indeed elsewhere who have been moved and outraged by the plight of the Palestinian people: we hear you, you were right.”
Deputy assistant commissioner Carl Galvin said: “We know Saturday’s event, so close to the third anniversary of the terror attack on Israel, has the potential to have a greater impact on communities than the previous national marches.”
Galvin, who is leading the policing operation this weekend, said the force’s presence on Saturday will be “significant”.
“We will also be using powers under the Public Order Act requiring anyone in the protest area wearing face coverings to deliberately conceal their identity to remove them,” Galvin continued.
The Met have imposed conditions on the march and require the group to travel via Westminster Bridge, York Road, Waterloo Bridge and The Strand on to Whitehall, with a rally concluding by ۶.۳۰pm. The force has said that any speeches and music must conclude by ۵.۳۰pm.
A counter-protest by Stop The Hate is also taking place, with about ۳۰ people gathered outside New Scotland Yard, some with flags.
The force has also imposed conditions on the demonstration “to minimise the risk of serious disruption”. The demonstrators must remain within a designated area outside the Met’s headquarters, with the assembly concluding at ۲.۳۰pm.
Last Saturday, on the third anniversary of the ۷ October attacks, when Hamas militants broke across the Israeli border to launch a wave of attacks on kibbutzim, border towns, military bases and music festivals, killing at least ۱,۲۰۹ people, a small pro-Palestine student demonstration in central London was held.
The Met publicly appealed to those behind the demonstration to “exercise [their] right to protest on a different date” and admitted that finding the organisers had been “frankly difficult”. In the end, it went ahead and about ۱۰۰ people attended. Five people were arrested for breaching conditions imposed on the march.
The Palestine Coalition organising the march includes Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War, CND, the Muslim Association of Britain, Friends of Al Aqsa and the Palestinian Forum in Britain.
