- By Adam Durbin & Nicky Schiller
- BBC News
A puppet of a Syrian refugee child has joined protesters on the pro-Palestinian march in London
Thousands of people have joined a pro-Palestinian march in London calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Demonstrators are carrying placards emblazoned with “ceasefire now” and a giant puppet of a Syrian child refugee, named Little Amal, is accompanying the march to highlight child refugees.
Organisers say the protest is part of a global day of action in 30 countries.
Two arrests have been made “in relation to offensive placards being carried”, the Metropolitan Police said.
More than 1,700 police officers are on duty to manage the march from London’s commercial centre to Westminster.
Ahead of the march, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor from the Met has warned people who “intentionally push the limit” on placards or chanting slogans that they face arrest.
Alongside the heavy police presence, including forces from outside of London, police have been handing out flyers to protesters that say “keep on the right side of the law”.
This is the seventh national pro-Palestinian march held in London following the unprecedented Hamas attacks on southern Israel on 7 October which led to around 1,300 people being killed and more than 240 kidnapped.
More than 23,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its retaliatory bombing campaign and launched a subsequent ground campaign, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
Protests have taken place most weekends in the British capital and have been attended by tens of thousands of largely peaceful people.
But there have been dozens of arrests for a variety of public order offences, including people chanting or carrying placards with antisemitic slogans and for supporting Hamas – which is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK.
Officers have handed leaflets warning protesters they may face arrest if they breach the law on the march
Thousands of demonstrators began gathering in the Bank area of central London around midday on Saturday, before heading west along Fleet Street on the planned route to Parliament Square in Westminster.
The Met has also placed some limits on the protest – like marchers must stick to the route to Parliament Square and speeches need to be finished by 16:30 GMT. Protesters are also banned from entering the area around the Israeli embassy in Kensington.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said he has been briefed by Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley over the force’s plans to “ensure order and safety” on Saturday.
“I back them to use their powers to manage the protest and crack down on any criminality,” Cleverly said.
A giant puppet of a Syrian child refugee, known as Little Amal, joined a group of children on the march to bring focus on the suffering of children in Gaza.
The 3.5m (11ft) tall puppet became an international symbol of human rights after she journeyed thousands of miles from the Turkish-Syrian border to Manchester in July 2021.
On Sunday there will be a rally in support of Israel taking place in London’s Trafalgar Square.
