UK police: 40 arrested for refusing to leave anti-Israel rally at designated time, assaulting cops

UK police say 40 people were arrested and three officers were injured yesterday after anti-Israel protesters refused to disperse following a demonstration in London against the Rafah offensive against the Hamas terror group in Gaza.

The British capital’s Metropolitan Police Service says the individuals were arrested last night for offenses including breaching public order conditions, obstructing roads and assaulting emergency workers.

It says two officers sustained minor injuries after being assaulted while a third, who was struck by a bottle thrown from within the crowd, suffered a “serious facial injury.”

The Met, as the force is widely known, says an investigation is underway to identify who threw the bottle.

Police had approved plans for the early evening protest — organized by a coalition including the Palestine Solidarity Campaign — outside the gates of Downing Street in central London.

But it imposed conditions including that the rally end by 8 p.m. (local time).

Up to 10,000 people attended, and the “vast majority” left by the required time, but a group of around 500 remained to continue protesting, according to police.

“Officers engaged extensively before making a number of arrests for failing to comply with conditions,” the Met says in a statement.

“As they moved in, some in the crowd resisted physically, requiring officers to use force to extract those who had been arrested.”

Further arrests followed later in the evening after the remaining demonstrators launched a breakaway march and were eventually corralled outside a train station, the Met says.