As tensions rose over an impending Israeli ground offensive in Gaza, tens of thousands marched through cities across the UK calling for a free Palestine.
Protesters gathered in Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and London, waving flags and flashing flares and calling on world leaders to condemn the Israeli army’s actions.
Chanting “Free Palestine”, holding banners and waving Palestinian flags, the protesters moved through London before massing at Downing Street, the official residence and office of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Police estimated 100,000 people had taken part in the “National March for Palestine” demonstration, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.
So far, Fifteen people were arrested at the protest in central London, after warnings from police that action would be taken against anyone showing support for Hamas or deviating from the agreed route.
The Metropolitan Police said on Saturday evening that there had been “small pockets of disorder and unacceptable criminality towards our officers in Trafalgar Square,” and that eight of the arrests were connected to suspected assaults on emergency workers as well as allegedly setting off fireworks in public places.
