Thousands gather in London to express support for Palestinians after three years of ‘genocide’

What Happened

Thousands of people gathered in central London on Saturday for a Palestine Coalition protest, with organisers later claiming 250,000 attendees. The march began on the Embankment and moved via Westminster Bridge, York Road, Waterloo Bridge and The Strand to Whitehall, where a rally was due to conclude by 6.30pm. The Metropolitan Police said 20 arrests had been made, including for criminal damage after protesters climbed the Battle of Britain memorial on Victoria Embankment, possession of placards declaring support for the proscribed group Palestine Action, a Nazi salute, and assaulting police. A two-minute silence was held for lives lost in Gaza, and demonstrators called for the UK government to stop supplying arms to Israel. A counter-protest by Stop The Hate, with about 30 people, gathered outside New Scotland Yard under separate Metropolitan Police conditions, concluding at 2.30pm. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Carl Galvin said police used Public Order Act powers to require removal of face coverings and that the event’s proximity to the third anniversary of the 7 October attacks heightened the potential impact on communities.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The march is the first national demonstration since UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced sweeping sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements, declared Israel’s West Bank occupation unlawful in its entirety, and said settler terrorists are committing ethnic cleansing. It shows that UK official language and activist demands are converging around legal terms such as genocide and ethnic cleansing, while Israeli airstrikes continue in Gaza and UN figures record 230 Palestinians killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces and settlers in 2025. The demonstration also underscores domestic policing challenges in balancing public order powers with protest rights near the third anniversary of the 7 October Hamas attack that killed 1,209 people in Israel.

Watch For

Concrete next events to monitor include any UK government response to the march, particularly whether it accelerates or expands sanctions on Israeli settlements or arms export restrictions, and whether Israeli officials retaliate diplomatically to Ed Miliband’s statements. On the policing side, the Metropolitan Police’s conditions required the Whitehall rally to conclude by 6.30pm and the Stop The Hate counter-protest by 2.30pm; any additional arrests or contested use of Public Order Act face-covering powers could signal further legal challenges.