London protest for Palestine ends in arrests

By Zuhal Demirci

LONDON (AA) - Demonstrators at a train station sit-in to support Palestine clashed with London police Saturday, resulting in five arrests.

Protesters from the Now Ceasefire group gathered at Waterloo train station at 4 p.m. local time to initiate the sit-in.

Carrying Palestinian flags and chanting slogans such as "Free Palestine" and "From River to Sea, Palestine will be free," hundreds of demonstrators demanded an urgent cease-fire in Gaza.

Police surrounded demonstrators and distributed notices that said conducting a protest at the train station was illegal and requested that protesters leave the station.

Officials intervened when the group refused to end the protest which led to a skirmish.

- Chaos ensues as police attempt to remove demonstrators

Some protesters were seen being dragged during the arrests.

As police attempted to clear demonstrators from the station after the protest, some protesters fell to the ground and appeared to struggle to breathe.

Israel launched airstrikes and later a ground incursion in Gaza after the Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian group Hamas.

It has since killed more than 12,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, flattened thousands of civilian structures, and enforced a full blockade resulting in a shortage of supplies such as food, fuel and medicine.

The official Israeli death toll stands at around 1,200.