Thousands rally in London to call for immediate cease-fire in Gaza

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - Protesters on Saturday staged a massive rally in London to call for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza where more than 27,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since Oct. 7.

In solidarity with Palestinians, thousands of people gathered in front of the BBC in Portland Place and later held a march toward the Prime Minister's Office in Whitehall.

Carrying Palestinian flags, the crowd chanted slogans, calling for an end to Israeli attacks on Gaza, while criticizing the British government for its support to Israel.

They also carried various signs, including "Free Palestine," "Stop the genocide," and "I'm a critic not anti-Semitic."

Some of the protesters were also seen carrying "Hands off Yemen" signs, in protest to recent strikes by the US and the UK against Houthi groups in Yemen.

Speaking to Anadolu, Hannah, a protester, said that as pro-Palestinians, they feel like it is their "duty" to gather at protests and to represent the Palestinian people and to show them that the world is with them "even though the governments are not."

"If you look around, there is people of all ages, there is people of all ethnicities, people from all walks of life came to stand together," she said.

"And it is our duty to support them and to show them that even though they might feel like they have been forgotten but they have not. We all with them and we have been for years," she added.

The killings of innocent people did not begin on Oct. 7, she said. "It began way before that," she added.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7 that killed at least 27,238 Palestinians and injured 66,452 following a surprise attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.