Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters will march through London today even though hostages deal has been agreed – as police launch elaborate plan to keep them apart from counter-demonstrators

Hundreds of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters are expected to march towards central London today despite a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas coming into force.

This will be the 32nd national demonstration in support of Palestine since October 2023, according to organizer Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), and protesters will need to set out from the Embankment at midday for the march, which ends with a rally in Whitehall.

Organizers are expected to call for the ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump to turn into a permanent agreement.

The counter-protest, organized by Stop The Hate, is expected to take place at the junction of Aldwych and Strand from 12.30pm.

Conditions were imposed on both demonstrations by the Met Police, setting out specific areas where protesters could gather and routes along which they could march.

PSC director Ben Jamal said pro-Palestinian protests would be less frequent if the ceasefire continues, but he believes this is ‘not a viable way to end decades of apartheid’ in Gaza.

‘We share the great relief felt by the Palestinians that the ceasefire is now in effect,’ he said.

However, we also know that Israel violates every ceasefire agreement it has signed.

Pro-Palestinian protesters gathered as they marched towards Whitehall in central London on Saturday afternoon

People hold banners reading ‘Stop the genocide’ as they protest in support of Palestinians today

A protester holds a sign showing the two halves of a face; one is Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the other is Adolf Hitler

‘Over the last two years we have seen Israel commit a live-streamed genocide in Gaza, killing at least 67,000 Palestinians, including 20,000 children. We have seen our Conservative and Labor governments continue to arm and politically support Israel.

‘We will continue to protest and campaign across the UK to end the complicity of our government, public institutions and corporations in Israel’s crimes under international law.’

But anti-antisemitism campaigners argued the protests should no longer take place as they had no legitimate aim.

On Saturday, thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered to drumbeats along Victoria Embankment ahead of a demonstration to commemorate the second anniversary of the war in Gaza.

While keffiyeh was being sold at the stalls, people in front of the Embankment station were handing out banners saying ‘Palestine will be free from the river to the sea’, ‘acting against genocide is not a crime’ and ‘Starmer has blood on his hands, free Palestine’.

Announcing its plans for policing this weekend, the Met cited the Government’s latest proposals to give police greater powers to restrict repeated protests but said ‘at present the law has not changed’.

The measures announced last weekend follow frequent pro-Palestinian demonstrations, including in London and Manchester last Saturday.

The Met said 492 people were arrested at last week’s protest in Trafalgar Square, the majority on suspicion of supporting banned terrorist organization Palestine Action.

Following the terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester on October 2, in which two people died, calls for moderation were made, and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called on the protesters to ‘respect the pain of British Jews’.

On the evening of the attack, after supporters of the flotilla heading to Gaza gathered in Whitehall, a scuffle broke out between the police and pro-Palestinian protesters.

Melvin Cravitz, 66, and Adrian Daulby, 53, were killed after an attack by Islamic extremist Jihad Al-Shamie outside the Heaton Park Community Synagogue in Crumpsall, Manchester, on October 2.

People held a protest in Trafalgar Square on Saturday 4 October to demand that the British government lift its ban on Palestine Action.

Protesters unfurled a banner on Westminster Bridge as part of a demonstration organized by Save Our Juries in support of Palestine Action in Trafalgar Square on 4 October.

In Manchester, 50 to 100 people gather in the rain to protest in Manchester on 2 October

Pro-Palestinian protesters were told they would have to march along this pre-agreed route before gathering in Whitehall.

Counter-protesters must remain in the red zone just off the Strand during today’s protest

Manchester Police said one of the dead men was shot by officers, while a second victim suffered non-life-threatening gunshot wounds.

Following the attack, the Met also called on organizers to cancel plans, while Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said policing the protest would mean removing officers from communities ‘at a time when they are needed most’.

The demonstration in support of Palestine Action continued, with human rights campaigner Sir Jonathon Porritt saying protesters should not be asked to ‘give up our right to stand up for those being devastated by the ongoing real-time genocide in Gaza’.

Nearly 2,000 protesters gathered outside Downing Street on Thursday to mark one week since the synagogue attack.

At the protest, Gideon Falter, chief executive of the Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: ‘This is a Jewish community that has been crying out for two years in the face of growing hatred.’

Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood said repeated large-scale protests were causing ‘significant fear’ for the Jewish community.

Police clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters at the southern end of Whitehall following a protest in Parliament Square on Thursday (October 2).

Following a protest in Parliament Square on the day of the terrorist attack, police were seen fighting with protesters at the southern end of Whitehall.

PSC director Ben Jamal said the group would ‘never stop’ supporting Palestinians ‘to achieve a free Palestine’.

He said of this weekend’s planned protest: ‘For two years we have seen Israel commit genocide without borders, with the political and military support of successive UK governments.

‘The resistance community in this country responded with a historic show of solidarity; They have actively and intensively campaigned daily to demand that politicians, public institutions and corporations end their complicity in Israel’s crimes.

‘This is a movement supported by millions of people in this country and around the world who want freedom and justice for Palestine.

‘This work will continue. Because we know that Israel has the power to break the ceasefire at any time, as it has done before at every opportunity. And we know that this ceasefire, based on (U.S. President Donald) Trump’s plan, does nothing to address the root causes of Israeli occupation, colonization of Palestine, and apartheid against Palestinians. It also does nothing to hold accountable those responsible for the genocide.

‘The rights of the Palestinian people are protected under international law; these cannot be violated and cannot be disputed. ‘They will never give up these rights and we will never stop supporting them to achieve a free Palestine.’

The ceasefire agreement came into force at noon local time (10:00 BST), the Israeli military said on Friday.

The pause in the two-year war in the Middle East came after Hamas agreed to release the remaining hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

News of the ceasefire agreement comes just two days after the second anniversary of the October 7 attacks on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.