Police 'surrounded' and make two arrests at London pro-Palestine march after Israel-Hamas truce expires
2 December 2023, 16:56 | Updated: 2 December 2023, 17:01
Officers were 'surrounded' by pro-Palestine activists in central London today as marchers attempted to stop police arresting two people, the Met Police says.
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The capital's police force claims its officers were "surrounded" by demonstrators and prevented from leaving after making two arrests at a pro-Palestine march in London on Saturday afternoon.
The force confirmed that one man has been arrested for a racially aggravated public order offence in Windrush Square, Brixton, because of a placard he was carrying.
The Met claimed on X that police attempted to leave the area with him, protesters blocked their path before they were removed by other officers.
A police van was again stopped as officers attempted to drive away with a teenage boy arrested for criminal damage of a patrol vehicle on nearby Saltoun Road.
Around 200 pro-Palestine demonstrators are marching towards Euston after gathering in Camden Town.
People were seen carrying placards accusing the Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer of having blood on his hands while others held banners reading: "Jews against genocide."
The protest forms part of a "day of action" arranged by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, with events to be held across the UK.
The latest round of protests come as talks to restart the truce between Israel and Hamas broke don, with Israeli negotiators were recalled from talks by Benjamin Netanyahu.
Some 193 people have been killed in Gaza, and 650 wounded, since the Israel-Hamas war restarted on Friday morning, according to local Hamas-affiliated authorities.
Israel launched its armed forces back into the conflict at the end of the seven-day truce, focusing strikes on the southern Gaza strip this time. The Israeli military said it had struck 400 Hamas targets with air strikes, tank fire and its navy since Friday morning.
Israeli intelligence agency Mossad had been in talks to restart the truce in Qatar, but Mr Netanyahu's office said they had been recalled.
The discussions had focused on the possible release of new hostages, and the parameters for a second truce. Some 105 hostages were returned during the original seven-day ceasefire, in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners being let out of Israeli prisons.
Previous efforts had largely concentrated on the north of the territory, where Hamas has traditionally been strongest. Hundreds of thousands of people had been told by Israel to move to southern Gaza, away from the worst of the fighting.
But on Friday morning, residents of Khan Younis, a large city in the south, were told to leave the city to shelter areas because it would soon become a combat zone.
And Saturday saw Israel's first use of a map that divided Gaza into numbered sections. Israel has told residents to work out which section they live in, in case of an evacuation order.
The first order to evacuate came for people living in the areas of Al-Qarara, Khirbet Khuza'a, Abasan, Bani Suhaila and Ma'an. They were told to go to shelters in Rafah.
The UN has criticised the use of the map, questioning how people are supposed to access it with frequent outages in electricity and internet access.
Over 15,000 people have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, which was sparked when Hamas launched attacks into southern Israel, killing 1,200 and taking more than 240 people hostage.
