Pro-Palestinian protests take place in UK

Thousands of people have taken part in a pro-Palestinian protest in London for the second consecutive weekend.

The Met Police estimated up to 100,000 people had joined the march, which ended in a rally near Downing Street.

Smaller demonstrations took place in Birmingham, Belfast, Cardiff and Salford.

It comes as aid deliveries reached Gaza for the first time since Israel imposed a blockade following a Hamas attack which killed 1,400 people in Israel.

Palestinian officials say more than 4,000 people have since been killed in Israeli bombing.

The Met Police said more than 1,000 officers were involved in policing the London event.

A total of 10 arrests were made linked to the protests in London for offences involving fireworks, public order and assaulting an emergency service worker, the force said.

In Cardiff, around 1,000 protesters waving Palestinian flags and supportive placards took part in a march towards the Welsh Parliament.

The demonstration was organised by several groups who are calling on the British and Welsh governments to insist on an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for “full humanitarian aid” to be sent in.

Maggie Morgan, from the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign Cardiff, said: “We are taking to the streets as a show of solidarity to the people of Gaza, to show our support for them, but also to make the government listen, and say ‘not in our name, we’re not having this.'”

Israel cut off supplies of fuel, electricity and water to Gaza after Hamas’s military wing broke through the border into Israel on 7 October, killing people and taking more than 200 hostages.

Since then, Israel has launched waves of aerial strikes on the Gaza Strip, targeting what it says are structures linked to Hamas. Hamas says the strikes have left thousands of civilians dead.

The strikes have displaced around 1.4 million Gazans, with more than half a million people in 147 UN shelters, the UN says.

On Saturday, a spokesperson for the Israeli military said it would “deepen” and “increase” the strikes, to allow Israel to “minimise the risks to our forces in the next stages of the war”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said there should be increased humanitarian access to Gaza.