Thousands march in anti-Israel protest in London, call for end to Gaza strikes

LONDON — Several thousand anti-Israel protesters march through central London on Saturday, calling for an end to Israeli strikes on Gaza.

Marchers carry placards reading “End the genocide” and “Free Palestine” as they make their way along the route near the British Parliament.

“We are here today to mark three years of the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” Aimee Shalan, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, tells AFP.

She says UK-led Western sanctions over settler violence did not go far enough, calling for “full sanctions on Israel.”

Police say they had made “several arrests,” including a man and a woman with placards of support for the banned organization Palestine Action.

Recent graduate Hibo Hassan, 23, says she was there to show her solidarity.

“Although it is happening in the Middle East, it affects us here now,” she says.

“It’s extremely dystopian and that is something we should be all scared about,” she adds.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.