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Several hundred people marched on Sunday in London to demand Hamas release the Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian militant group in Gaza and criticise Britain’s planned recognition of the State of Palestine.Joined by several relatives of the hostages, the march ended at the 10 Downing Street office of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who has said the UK will recognise a Palestinian state if Israel does not agree to a truce in its war with Hamas. Many of the protesters waved Israeli flags or wore yellow ribbons, a symbol of solidarity with the hostages, whose liberation the organisers of the march argue should be the Labour leader’s priority.Of the 251 hostages Hamas seized in its October 7, 2023 attack which began the war in Gaza, 49 are still held captive, including 27 who the Israeli army says are dead. Among the demonstrators were Ayelet Stavitsky, sister of dead hostage Nadav Popplewell, and Adam Ma’anit, cousin of Tsachi Idan, who died while held by Hamas.”I think that the government got it wrong with its foreign policy, that it’s time for it to correct and refocus on the hostages,” said Ma’anit, criticising Starmer’s planned recognition of a Palestinian state in September.Three people, identified as counter-protesters, were arrested, two of them for violent acts, police said.Israel has faced mounting outcry over the 22-month-long war with Hamas, with United Nations-backed experts warning of widespread famine in besieged Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under mounting pressure to secure the release of the remaining hostages, as well as over his plans to expand the Gaza war, which he has vowed to do without the backing of Israel’s allies abroad.Starmer’s move towards recognising a State of Palestine follows on from similar pledges made by leaders including France’s President Emmanuel Macron, as international disquiet over the dire humanitarian in the Palestinian territory grows.Israel’s offensive has killed at least 61,430 Palestinians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, whose toll the United Nations considers reliable.Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s far right pressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to go harder against Hamas, ahead of a UN Security Council meeting Sunday on the premier’s plan to conquer Gaza City.Over 22 months into the war in Gaza, Israel is gripped by a yawning divide, pitting those calling for an end of the conflict along with a deal for the release of the hostages against others who want to see Hamas vanquished once and for all. The debate has only intensified after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet announced plans Friday to expand the conflict and capture Gaza City.While thousands took to the streets in Tel Aviv Saturday night to protest the cabinet’s decision, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich posted a video online, slamming Netanyahu’s decision on Gaza as half-hearted.”The prime minister and the cabinet gave in to weakness. Emotion overcame reason, and they once again chose to do more of the same — launching a military operation whose goal is not decisive victory, but rather to apply limited pressure on Hamas in order to bring about a partial hostage deal,” Smotrich said.”They decided once again to repeat the same approach, embarking on a military operation that does not aim for a decisive resolution.”Netanyahu is scheduled to hold a press conference with international media at 4:30 pm local time (13:30 GMT) on Sunday — his first since the security cabinet decision. The far-right members of Netanyahu’s cabinet, including Smotrich, have maintained considerable influence in the premier’s coalition government throughout the war — with their support seen as vital to holding at least 61 seats for a parliamentary majority.National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, also of the far right, told Kan radio on Sunday: “It is possible to achieve victory. I want all of Gaza, transfer and colonisation. This plan will not endanger the troops.”In Tel Aviv, demonstrators held up pictures of hostages still in Gaza, calling on the government to secure their release.”We will end with a direct message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: if you invade parts of Gaza and the hostages are murdered, we will pursue you in the town squares, in election campaigns and at every time and place,” Shahar Mor Zahiro, the relative of a slain hostage, told AFP.- Wave of condemnation -The cabinet’s decision to expand the war in Gaza has meanwhile touched off a wave of criticism across the globe. On Sunday, the UN Security Council is set to meet to discuss the latest development. Foreign powers, including some of Israel’s allies, have been pushing for a negotiated truce to secure the hostages’ return and help alleviate a humanitarian crisis in the territory following repeated warnings of famine taking hold.Despite the backlash and rumours of dissent from Israeli military top brass, Netanyahu has remained firm.  In a post on social media late Friday, Netanyahu said “we are not going to occupy Gaza — we are going to free Gaza from Hamas”.The premier has faced regular protests over the course of the war, with many rallies calling for the government to strike a deal after past truces saw hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody. Out of 251 hostages captured during Hamas’s 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the military says are dead.Israel’s offensive has killed at least 61,430 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, figures the United Nations says are reliable.According to Gaza’s civil defence agency, at least 27 people were killed by Israeli fire across the territory Sunday, including 11 who were waiting near aid distribution centres. Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel, which triggered the war, resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Police in London arrested 466 people Saturday for supporting Palestine Action at the latest and largest protest backing the group since the government banned it last month under anti-terror laws.The Metropolitan Police said it had made the arrests, thought to be one of the highest number ever at a single protest in the UK capital, for “supporting a proscribed organisation”.It also arrested eight people for other offences including five for alleged assaults on officers, though none were seriously injured, it added.The government outlawed Palestine Action in early July, days after it took responsibility for a break-in at an air force base in southern England that caused an estimated £7 million ($9.3 million) of damage to two aircraft.The group said its activists were responding to Britain’s indirect military support for Israel amid the war in Gaza.Britain’s interior ministry reiterated ahead of Saturday’s protests that Palestine Action was also suspected of other “serious attacks” that involved “violence, significant injuries and extensive criminal damage”.But critics, including the United Nations and groups such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace, have condemned  the move as legal overreach and a threat to free speech.- ‘Unprecedented’ -A group called Defend Our Juries, which organised Saturday’s protests and previous demonstrations against the ban, said “unprecedented numbers” had risked “arrest and possible imprisonment” to “defend this country’s ancient liberties”.”We will keep going. Our numbers are already growing for the next wave of action in September,” it added.Attendees began massing near parliament at lunchtime bearing signs saying “oppose genocide, support Palestine Action” and other slogans, and waving Palestinian flags.Psychotherapist Craig Bell, 39, was among those holding a placard. For him, the ban was “absolutely ridiculous”. “When you compare Palestine Action with an actual terrorist group who are killing civilians and taking lives, it’s just a joke that they’re being prescribed a terrorist group,” he told AFP.As police moved in on the demonstrators, who nearly all appeared to offer no resistance, attendees applauded those being arrested and shouted “shame on you” at officers.”Let them arrest us all,” said Richard Bull, 42, a wheelchair-user in attendance.”This government has gone too far. I have nothing to feel ashamed of.”However, interior minister Yvette Cooper insisted late Saturday Palestine Action had been outlawed “based on strong security advice” and following “an assessment from the Joint Terrorism Assessment Centre that the group prepares for terrorism”.”Many people may not yet know the reality of this organisation,” she said, adding it “is not non-violent”. “The right to protest is one we protect fiercely but this is very different from displaying support for this one specific and narrow, proscribed organisation.”- NGOs opposed -Police forces across the UK have made scores of similar arrests since the government outlawed Palestine Action on July 5, making being a member or supporting the group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.Police announced this week that the first three people had been charged in the English and Welsh criminal justice system with supporting Palestine Action following their arrests at a July 5 demo.Seven people have so far been charged in Scotland, which has a separate legal system.Amnesty International UK Chief Executive Sacha Deshmukh wrote to Met Police chief Mark Rowley this week urging restraint be exercised when policing people holding placards expressing support for Palestine Action.”The arrest of otherwise peaceful protesters is a violation of the UK’s international obligations to protect the rights of freedom of expression and assembly,” Amnesty said Saturday on X.A UK court challenge against the decision to proscribe Palestine Action will be heard in November.

Thousands took to the streets in Tel Aviv on Saturday to call for an end to the war in Gaza, a day after the Israeli government vowed to expand the conflict and capture Gaza City.Demonstrators waved signs and held up pictures of hostages still being held in the Palestinian territory as they called on the government to secure their release. AFP journalists at the rally estimated the number of attendees to be in the tens of thousands, while a group representing the families of hostages said as many as 100,000 people participated. Authorities did not provide an official estimate for the size of the crowd, though it dwarfed other recent anti-war rallies. “We will end with a direct message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: if you invade parts of Gaza and the hostages are murdered, we will pursue you in the town squares, in election campaigns and at every time and place,” Shahar Mor Zahiro, the relative of a slain hostage, told AFP.On Friday, Netanyahu’s security cabinet greenlighted plans for a major operation to seize Gaza City, triggering a wave of domestic and international criticism.Foreign powers, including some of Israel’s allies, have been pushing for a negotiated ceasefire to secure the hostages’ return and help alleviate a humanitarian crisis in the Strip. Despite the backlash and rumours of dissent from Israeli military top brass, Netanyahu has remained defiant over the decision.  In a post on social media late Friday, Netanyahu said “we are not going to occupy Gaza — we are going to free Gaza from Hamas”.The premier has faced regular protests over the course of 22 months of war, with many rallies calling for the government to strike a deal after past truces saw hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody. Out of 251 hostages captured during Hamas’s 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the military says are dead.- ‘A new crime’ -The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Saturday lambasted Israel’s plan to expand its operations in Gaza.According to a statement carried by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, PA president Mahmud Abbas said the plan “constitutes a new crime”, and stressed “the urgent need to take action to stop it immediately”.He also emphasised “the importance of enabling the State of Palestine to assume its full responsibilities in the Gaza Strip”.In the same meeting that approved the Gaza City plan, the security cabinet adopted a set of principles for ending the war in Gaza that included establishing a new “administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority”.The PA, conceived as a first step towards a Palestinian state, exercises limited administration over parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, but does not have a presence in Hamas-run Gaza.A statement issued Saturday by the foreign ministers of Italy, Australia, Germany, New Zealand and the United Kingdom again criticised the decision to occupy Gaza City. “This will exacerbate the catastrophic humanitarian situation, endanger the lives of hostages, and increase the risk of a mass exodus of civilians,” they said. Russia also condemned the Israeli plan to take control of Gaza City in a statement Saturday.Implementing such plans “risks worsening the already dramatic situation in the Palestinian enclave, which shows all the signs of a humanitarian disaster”, said a foreign ministry statement.Gaza’s civil defence agency said at least 37 people were killed by Israeli fire across the territory on Saturday, including 30 civilians who were waiting to collect aid. Israel’s offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, figures the United Nations says are reliable.Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel — which triggered the war — resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Police in London arrested at least 365 people Saturday for supporting Palestine Action, at the latest and largest protest backing the group since the government banned it last month under anti-terror laws.The Metropolitan Police said it made the hundreds of arrests, thought to be one of the highest ever at a single protest in the UK capital, for “supporting a proscribed organisation”.It also arrested seven for other offences including assaults on officers, though none were seriously injured, it added.The government outlawed Palestine Action in early July days after it took responsibility for a break-in at an air force base in southern England that caused an estimated £7 million ($9.3 million) of damage to two aircraft.The group said its activists were responding to Britain’s indirect military support for Israel amid the war in Gaza.Britain’s interior ministry reiterated ahead of Saturday’s protests that Palestine Action is also suspected of other “serious attacks” that involved “violence, significant injuries and extensive criminal damage”.But critics, including the United Nations and NGOs like Amnesty International and Greenpeace, have lambasted the move as legal overreach and a threat to free speech.- ‘Unprecedented’ -A group called Defend Our Juries, which organised Saturday’s protests and previous demonstrations against the ban, said “unprecedented numbers” had risked “arrest and possible imprisonment” to “defend this country’s ancient liberties”.”We will keep going. Our numbers are already growing for the next wave of action in September,” it added.Attendees began massing near parliament at lunchtime bearing signs saying “oppose genocide, support Palestine Action” and other slogans, and waving Palestinian flags.Psychotherapist Craig Bell, 39, was among those holding a placard.He branded the ban “absolutely ridiculous”. “When you compare Palestine Action with an actual terrorist group who are killing civilians and taking lives, it’s just a joke that they’re being prescribed a terrorist group,” he told AFP.As police moved in on the demonstrators, they applauded those being arrested and shouted “shame on you” at officers.”Let them arrest us all,” said Richard Bull, 42, a wheelchair-user in attendance.”This government has gone too far. I have nothing to feel ashamed of.”Defend Our Juries had claimed only a “fraction” of the hundreds who turned out had been detained, but the Met insisted that “simply isn’t true” and that all those showing support for Palestine Action would be arrested.The London force noted some of those there were onlookers or not visibly supporting the group.- NGOs opposed -The Met also detailed how the hundreds arrested were taken to temporary “prisoner processing” points, where their details were confirmed and they were either instantly bailed or taken into custody elsewhere.Police forces across the UK have made scores of similar arrests since the government outlawed Palestine Action on July 5, making being a member or supporting the group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.Police announced this week that the first three people had been charged in the English and Welsh criminal justice system with supporting Palestine Action following their arrests at a July 5 demo.Seven people have so far been charged in Scotland, which has a separate legal system.Amnesty International UK Chief Executive Sacha Deshmukh wrote to Met Police chief Mark Rowley this week urging restraint be exercised when policing people holding placards expressing support for Palestine Action.The NGO has argued arrests of such people are in breach of international human rights law.A UK court challenge against the decision to proscribe Palestine Action will be heard later this year.

Police in London arrested at least 200 people Saturday for supporting Palestine Action at the latest and largest protest backing the group since the government banned it last month under anti-terror laws.The UK capital’s Metropolitan Police said it expected to make further arrests at the demonstration in Parliament Square, as organisers claimed only a “fraction” of the hundreds who turned out had been detained.”That claim simply isn’t true,” the Met said in a statement, noting some of those there were onlookers or not visibly supporting Palestine Action. “We are confident that anyone who came to Parliament Square today to hold a placard expressing support for Palestine Action was either arrested or is in the process of being arrested.”The government banned the group days after several of its activists broke into an air force base in southern England, causing an estimated £7 million ($9.3 million) of damage to two aircraft.Britain’s interior ministry reiterated ahead of Saturday’s protests that its members were also suspected of other “serious attacks” that involved “violence, significant injuries and extensive criminal damage”.But critics, including the United Nations and NGOs like Amnesty International and Greenpeace, have lambasted the move as legal overreach and a threat to free speech.- ‘Unprecedented’ -A group called Defend our Juries, which organised Saturday’s protests and previous demonstrations against the ban, said “unprecedented numbers” had risked “arrest and possible imprisonment” to “defend this country’s ancient liberties”.”We will keep going. Our numbers are already growing for the next wave of action in September,” it added.Attendees began massing near parliament at lunchtime bearing signs saying “oppose genocide, support Palestine Action” and other slogans, and waving Palestinian flags.Psychotherapist Craig Bell, 39, was among those holding a placard.He branded the ban “absolutely ridiculous”. “When you compare Palestine Action with an actual terrorist group who are killing civilians and taking lives, it’s just a joke that they’re being prescribed a terrorist group,” he told AFP.As police moved in on the demonstrators, they applauded those being arrested and shouted “shame on you” at officers.”Let them arrest us all,” said Richard Bull, 42, a wheelchair-user in attendance.”This government has gone too far. I have nothing to feel ashamed of.”- NGOs opposed -London’s Met Police and other UK forces have made scores of similar arrests on previous weekends since the government outlawed Palestine Action on July 5. Anyone expressing support for a proscribed group risks arrest under UK anti-terror laws. Police announced this week that the first three people had been charged in the English and Welsh criminal justice system with supporting Palestine Action following their arrests at a July 5 demo.Being a member or supporting the group is now a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.Seven people have so far been charged in Scotland, which has a separate legal system.Amnesty International UK Chief Executive Sacha Deshmukh wrote to Met Police chief Mark Rowley this week urging restraint be exercised when policing people holding placards expressing support for Palestine Action.The NGO has argued arrests of such people are in breach of international human rights law.A UK court challenge against the decision to proscribe Palestine Action will be heard later this year.