Thousands gather in London in march for ‘lasting peace’ in Gaza | Israel-Gaza war

Thousands of people gathered in central London to call for “lasting peace” in Gaza, a day after a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas came into force.

The demonstration, organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, started at Victoria Embankment on Saturday. While keffiyehs were sold on the stalls, citizens handed out banners saying “Palestine will be free from the river to the sea”, “opposing genocide is not a crime” and “Starmer has blood on his hands, free Palestine”.

Ben Jamal, the campaign group’s director, said the march continued despite the ceasefire coming into force because “the plan put forward by Donald Trump is not a permanent peace plan.”

He said the plan contained “nothing about the root causes of the violence” and said nothing about the “apartheid system” in Palestine or the Palestinians’ “right to self-determination”. He added that the group’s campaigns and protests will not end “until the Palestinian people are finally free.”

According to the PSC, this is the 32nd national demonstration in support of Palestine since October 2023, when protesters will march along the Embankment ahead of a rally in Whitehall.

Stop the Hate was expected to stage a counter-protest at the junction of Aldwych and Strand, with police taking measures to prevent a clash between the two groups.

Scotland Yard said it had imposed conditions on both demonstrations under the Public Order Act to “prevent serious disruption” and designated the march route as well as specific areas where protesters could gather.

Last weekend the government announced police would be given greater powers to restrict protests by allowing them to take into account the “cumulative impact” of repeated demonstrations.

Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood has called for pro-Palestinian protests planned for last weekend to be canceled or postponed following a terrorist attack on a synagogue in Manchester that left two people dead.

Keir Starmer, who was on a trade delegation to India on Wednesday, said protest laws, including chanting, were being reviewed by the government.

“I have asked the home secretary to look more broadly at what other powers are available, how they are used and whether they need to be changed in any way,” he told reporters. “I think we need to go further than that regarding some of the chanting at some of these protests.”

It has been just over two years since the war began in Gaza. Jamal said: “For two years we have seen Israel commit unfettered genocide with the political and military support of successive UK governments.

“The resistance community in this country has responded with a historic show of solidarity, campaigning actively and intensively every day 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.”

During the march, displaced Palestinians began their journey towards the ruins of their homes in Gaza.