Londoners protest Israel's killing of at least 100 Palestinians at school shelter in Gaza
Demonstrators criticize British government's stance on issue, calling for immediate cease-fire
At least 100 civilians were killed in an Israeli attack on a school sheltering displaced people in Gaza
LONDON
Hundreds of people on Monday staged an "emergency" rally in the British capital in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, protesting ongoing Israeli attacks on the besieged Palestinian enclave.
The protesters gathered outside the prime minister's office at Number 10 Downing Street in London to carry Palestinian flags and shout "stop the genocide, massacre.”
The emergency demonstration was held to demand the government immediately "Stop Arming Israel" after Israel killed over 100 Palestinians in an attack on a school over the weekend.
Calling for an immediate cease-fire while protesting Israel’s attacks on the enclave, the protesters chanted pro-Palestinian slogans including "We are all Palestinians" and "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."
They also criticized the British government’s stance on the issue, with some chanting slogans against Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Many speakers at the rally, including Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian envoy to the UK, stressed the need for an immediate cease-fire, citing the plight of civilians in the Gaza Strip.
Lindsey German, head of the Stop the War group, criticized continuing arms exports to Israel despite the ongoing Israeli attacks on civilians.
100 killed in Israeli attack on school
At least 100 people were killed and many injured Saturday when Israeli aircraft targeted Palestinians performing fajr (dawn) prayers at the Al-Tab'een school in Gaza City’s Al-Daraj neighborhood.
Israel claimed that 31 Hamas members were killed in Saturday’s school attack.
Israel, flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
The Israeli onslaught has since killed nearly 40,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 92,000 others, according to local health authorities.
More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
