Thousands rally in London for Gaza cease-fire

London, United Kingdom – AFP

Thousands of people marched through central London to parliament on Saturday calling for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza.

Protesters waved Palestinian flags and chanted: “End the genocide” and “Free, free Palestine”.

The demonstration, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), also passed a pro-Israel counter-protest.

With a UK general election due to be held on July 4, the group called on people to show political parties that “they must act” by ceasing to arm Israel and demanding a permanent cease-fire “if they want our vote”.

Israel has killed at least 37,000 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the local health ministry.

“It’s so clearly morally wrong what Israel is doing to the Palestinian people,” said one demonstrator, 35-year-old Canadian musician Thomas Rapsey.

“We want the bombing to stop,” he said.

Another protester, who asked to be identified only as Lucy, called Israel’s actions in Gaza “horrific”.

“We’ve seen a genocide on our TV now for eight months, and no one in the world seems to care or do anything about it.

“It’s been ignored by the world leaders and major institutions so it’s important for me to feel that I could do something,” the 26-year-old research analyst told AFP.

Both Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and main opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer have said Israel has a right to defend itself under international law, while expressing concern at the numbers of Palestinians killed.

They support a cease-fire, if both sides in the conflict agree, and the release of Israelis held by Hamas in Gaza. They also back the creation of a Palestinian state as part of the Middle East peace process.

A member of Starmer’s top team said recently that the UK should pause arms sales to Israel to stop an offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah — a position the British government has rejected.