The Crime Desk: Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters marched in Britain on Saturday, calling for a cease-fire as the Israeli army stepped up attacks on the Gaza Strip. Thousands of people also protested in France and Switzerland.
The United Nations has warned that tens of thousands more civilians could die as Israel ramps up ground forces in Gaza and escalates the war. News from AFP
According to Israeli officials, Israel began its bombardment on October 7 after Palestinian groups crossed the Gaza border, killing 1,400 people and taking more than 220 hostages.
Gaza’s health ministry said 7,703 people, mostly civilians, including more than 3,500 children, had been killed since the Israeli attack.
Demonstrator Dani Nadiri, 36, who took part in a large rally in support of the Palestinians in London for the third weekend in a row, said UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s call for a “humanitarian pause” in the fight to get aid to Gaza and free the hostages was not enough. “There needs to be a full ceasefire,” Nadiri told AFP. Now is the time to do something instead of letting it grow.
Protesters gathered at a central point on the banks of the River Thames at noon before heading to the UK Parliament in Westminster.
According to the British media, about 100,000 people joined the ‘March for Palestine’ in London, and the British media also reported clashes between the protesters and the police.
London’s Metropolitan Police deployed more than 1,000 officers to patrol the ‘March for Palestine’ protests. Police arrested one protester on suspicion of assaulting an officer and another on suspicion of making racist comments and death threats.
March in defiance of the ban in Paris
Thousands of protesters took part in rallies across France on Saturday. Demonstrators joined a demonstration in Paris, defying a court order issued with public approval. A large force of police blocked the protesters in the center of the capital.
Protesters also took to the streets in other French cities. Organizers said 4,000 people marched in the southern city of Marseille, while police put the number at 1,800.
In Switzerland, 7,000 protesters gathered in Zurich. 2,000 in Lausanne, 1,800 in Geneva, and more than 1,000 in Bern.
