LONDON: Tens of thousands of protesters marched in London on Saturday demanding a permanent ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, as a temporary truce largely held in Gaza.
It was the latest large pro-Palestinian demonstration in the British capital since the unprecedented October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel unleashed the latest conflict in the Gaza strip.
"The occupation needs to end. We need a full ceasefire and not a four-day ceasefire," Alaa Hassan, a 24-year-old wellbeing practitioner, told AFP.
The demonstrators waved pro-Palestinian banners and chanted slogans as they walked through central London to the Houses of Parliament at Westminster.
Some 1,500 police officers were on duty for the protest, including 500 that had been brought in from forces outside of London.
There were no immediate reports of violence at the demonstration, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the Stop the War Coalition.
"We come to show our solidarity and tell the Palestinians they are not alone, we are thinking about them and we are not gonna stop until they are free," said 25-year-old student Leila Talhi.
In Gaza, a truce was largely being respected as Hamas fighters and Israel's government released Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli and foreign hostages held by Hamas fighters.
Hamas fighters snatched around 240 captives when they broke through Gaza's militarised border with Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 Israelis and foreigners, mostly civilians, according to Israeli authorities.
In response to the deadliest attack in its history, Israel launched an air, artillery and naval bombardment alongside a ground offensive to destroy Hamas, killing nearly 15,000 people, mostly civilians including thousands of children, according to the Hamas government in Gaza.
London police have made hundreds of arrests for alleged hate crimes since the attack.
Showing support for Hamas is an offence in Britain.--AFP