Londoners protest Israel’s offensive in southern Gaza

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) – Residents of London staged demonstrations Tuesday against Israel's military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which is home to 1.5 million displaced civilians.

Students from University College London held a gathering at the main campus in Bloomsbury, where they recently set up an encampment, joining several other university campuses across the Western world.

Placing Palestinian flags in the area, they called for an end to Israeli attacks, demanding an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

They also chanted slogans including "We are students. We won't be silent. Stop the bombing now.”

The rally was also supported by a group of people who gathered behind the gates of the campus.

Later, a large crowd held a separate demonstration outside the Prime Minister's Office in Whitehall, criticizing the UK’s support for Israel.

Pro-Palestinian Jewish activists were among the attendees at the rally, which was organized as an "emergency protest" following Israel's evacuation order in Rafah.

The protesters repeatedly shouted "Cease-fire now.”

Speaking to Anadolu, Amba, a Jewish protester, said that anyone who tries to say that being anti-Zionist is somehow antisemitic is "weaponizing my identity and my family's identity."

"My family escaped this kind of persecution. My family escaped this kind of genocide. It is because we're Jewish that we're here," she said.

She said this is what her ancestors "would have wanted," saying the weaponizing of her identity makes her feel unsafe when not attending a pro-Palestine protest.

"I feel the most safe with this sign in this type of crowd," she added, carrying a sign that said "Jews against genocide. Free Palestine"

On the situation in Gaza, she said: "It is hard to find words to put to that as a Jewish person, I guess all I can say is we know what this looks like. And ‘Never Again’ meant never again."

The Israeli army said the 401st armored brigade seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing in southern Gaza.

Army footage showed Israeli tanks rolling through the area and the Israeli flag raised on the Gaza side.

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas which killed about 1,200 people. Nearly 34,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, the vast majority of whom have been women and children, and 78,100 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Seven months into the Israeli war, vast swathes of Gaza lay in ruins, pushing 85% of the enclave’s population into internal displacement amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January said it is "plausible" that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and ordered Tel Aviv to stop such acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.