Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Pro-Palestinian rallies continue as Gaza crisis intensifies

Israeli troops on Friday mistakenly shot to death three hostages.

Dominic McGrath
Saturday 16 December 2023 14:08 GMT
People take part in a protest as part of the Stop the War Coalition’s Day of Action for Palestine, in Camden Town (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
People take part in a protest as part of the Stop the War Coalition’s Day of Action for Palestine, in Camden Town (Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have gathered again this weekend to call for an end to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

Organisers Stop the War Coalition listed 57 separate pro-Palestinian events across UK on Saturday, including assemblies and candlelit vigils.

It comes amid growing international concern about the Israeli operation in the region.

The offensive, triggered by the unprecedented October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, has flattened much of northern Gaza and driven 85% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes.

Displaced people have squeezed into shelters mainly in the south in a spiralling humanitarian crisis.

The United States, Israel’s closest ally, has expressed unease over Israel’s failure to reduce civilian casualties and its plans for the future of Gaza, but the White House continues to offer wholehearted support with weapons shipments and diplomatic backing.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration is also facing public anger, after Israeli troops on Friday mistakenly shot dead three hostages.

The army’s chief spokesman said troops found the hostages on Friday and erroneously identified them as a threat. He said it was not clear if they had escaped their captors or been abandoned.

The hostages have been identified as Alon Shamriz, Samer Al-Talalka and Yotam Haim.

Late on Friday, hundreds of protesters blocked Tel Aviv’s main road in a spontaneous demonstration calling for the return of hostages still held by Palestinian militants.

In north London, about 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in Camden to call for a ceasefire, with some shouting “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free”.

Protesters outside the house of the Israeli ambassador to the UK criticised the Israel Defence Forces’ killing of three Israeli hostages taken in the Hamas October 7 attack.

One man told the crowd: “It’s clear what these hostages were doing that rendered them a threat from the IDF, presumably something like being men who were unarmed in north Gaza, maybe running – that’s all it takes to be murdered by the IDF.”

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in