Twelve people were arrested on Saturday at a pro-Palestine demonstration in central London, the Metropolitan police said.
The arrests were for “placard related offences, assaults on officers, and refusal to remove face coverings,” the Met said in a statement after the march ended.
“Thankfully, none of the officers who were assaulted were seriously injured,” the statement said.
The force added that “the overwhelming majority who took part were peaceful and acted entirely with the law.”
According to a spokesman for the march’s main organiser Palestine Solidarity Campaign, between 200,000 and 250,000 people were expected at the demonstration, and the Met said 1,500 officers would be on duty.
The Met said on Sunday that officers from 29 forces were in London on Saturday to support the policing of the event.
The Met had imposed Section 60, 60AA, and 35 orders, giving police additional powers. By 6:27 p.m., the police said the march had ended and the orders had been withdrawn because they were “no longer required.”
The Section 60 order gave police additional search powers and the Section 60AA required anyone wearing a face covering “for the purpose of concealing their identity” to remove it when asked to do so.
The Section 35 dispersal order meant anyone refusing a direction to leave a specified area could be arrested.
According to the Met, Saturday’s march was the first time that the organisers decided to bring the demonstration close to the Israeli embassy, although “the same exclusion zone that has been in place since mid-October” applied.
The force said ahead of the march that protesters were not allowed within 100 meters of the embassy grounds.
Protesters met at the south of Park Lane, holding banners calling for a “ceasefire now” and chanting “free, free Palestine,” before leaving for a designated place near the Israeli embassy where speeches were made.
Among the speakers were former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestine Mission to the UK, who both called for “justice” for the Palestinian people.
The Islington North MP told the crowd he will be voting in support of a ceasefire motion at Westminster next week, to be tabled by the SNP.
Police also stopped a “pro-Palestinian car convoy” in Neasden, north-west London, and monitored it to ensure it was not “causing fear.”
The Israel-Hamas war was triggered on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists, who are in charge of Gaza, led attacks on Israel, killing some 1,200 Israeli people and kidnapping some 240 people.
Israel, armed with its advanced defence systems, has been able to stop most attacks since then. According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry, the death toll in the enclave has surpassed 28,000, but the ministry does not distinguish between combatant deaths and civilian deaths.
Some Israeli hostages were released in a previous prisoner exchange. Israel has said around 100 hostages remain in captivity with some killed while being held hostage.
Israel is being urged not to send ground forces into Rafah on the Egyptian border, which it described as the last stronghold in Gaza, because it’s also where displaced Palestinians from the rest of the enclave have fled to.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the calls on Saturday, telling a press conference, “Those who want to prevent us from operating in Rafah are essentially telling us: ‘Lose the war.’ I won’t let that happen.”
The prime minister said a quarter of Hamas’s military force is in the area and questioned how the international community could expect Israel to leave them “intact.”
The Scottish National Party will seek a vote on a ceasefire in Gaza in Parliament next week after a previous motion was rejected in November.
Labour, which supports the government’s position of not calling for an immediate ceasefire, lost ten frontbenchers who resigned to back the SNP motion.
Neither Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer nor shadow foreign secretary David Lammy confirmed how MPs would be asked to vote, with both suggesting that the party in Westminster would need to inspect the wording of the motion.
In Glasgow for Scottish Labour’s conference, Sir Keir has come under fresh pressure over his stance on the crisis after members north of the border backed immediate calls for a ceasefire.
The party leader said there needs to be “a ceasefire that lasts” in the Palestinian Territories, adding, “That is what must happen now. The fighting must stop now.”
