Pro Palestine protesters descend upon London, PM stands with Israel

Thousands of people came out in London to support opposing sides amid a flare up of violence in occupied Palestine. Israel's embassy became the focus of a huge outpouring of support for Palestine.

At the same time, a separate pro Israel vigil was held outside Downing Street, in attendance was the British prime minister, who used the occasion to reiterate his staunch support for Israel's regime.

There are not two sides to these events. There is no question of balance. I stand with Israel.

Rishi Sunak, British Prime Minister

• Thousands rally to defend Palestine as UK government sides with Israel
  

  Thousands rally to defend Palestine as UK government sides with Israel

  Thousands of UK residents have taken to the streets to defend Palestinian rights to self-defense.

Pro Palestine protesters use their voice to condemn the occupation, which they say is the bottom line cause for the recent bloodshed.

Many people across the UK are deeply saddened but also very furious, not just the images and videos of intense suffering coming out from occupied Palestine right now, but also at the British authorities themselves.

The UK government, for example, is expressing some extreme pro Israel comments right now throwing their full support behind the regime, which is currently engaged in bombing raids on Gaza, which is targeting very heavily civilian populated areas.

Several senior UK Government ministers have fully committed their support to Israel. The Prime Minister tweeted on Saturday that he was "shocked by this morning's attacks by Hamas terrorists. Israel has an absolute right to defend itself", before adding a tweet showing the Israeli flag projected across number 10 Downing Street.

• Waving Palestinian flag could become a criminal offence, UK Home Secretary warns
  

  Waving Palestinian flag could be a criminal offence, UK home secretary warns

  The British government has urged the police to consider whether waving a Palestinian flag could be a criminal offense.

The Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, attacked pro Palestine protesters tweeting "there is no place on British streets for demonstrations that glorify terrorism".

 Others, including the Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly, added their support to Israel's right to defend itself, describing Palestinian fighters as terrorists,

Basically it was expected but we didn't think it would be so severe in the sense of so explicitly supporting Israel when Israel is the occupying power it is violating all the international laws.

And the very fact that just a few weeks ago, British government was telling us that any occupying power must be resisted in the case of Ukraine, and here we have a double standard, that we support one occupying power, Israel, against another in Ukraine, we are supporting the occupied people, so they're sending mixed messages.

Dr Ismail Patel, Friends of Al-Aqsa

The Gaza Health Ministry says hundreds of Palestinians, including many women and children, have been killed by Israeli strikes.

Hamas said that its operation came in response to Israel's violations at the Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Al Quds and growing settler violence, onlookers can do little more than wait and protest as the conflict looks set to escalate even further.

• BBC comes under pressure over using ‘fighters’ for Hamas members
  

  BBC comes under pressure over using ‘fighters’ for Hamas members: Report

  Hard-line supporters of Israel in Britain are pressuring BBC for its way of referring to Hamas members as fighters.

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