Pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London and Berlin. Participants accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London and Berlin. Participants accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza Several thousand people participated on Saturday in London in a march to demand a halt to the attacks on the Gaza Strip, more than three years after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, triggered by the unprecedented terrorist attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to AFP, Reuters and DPA, quoted by Agerpres. "We are here to mark three years of ongoing genocide in Gaza" and to demand that the British government adopt "total sanctions" against Israel, explained Aimee Shalan, director of the movement 'Palestine Solidarity Campaign', co-organizer of this demonstration. The march took place more than a year after the cessation of hostilities negotiated between Israel and Hamas, but the promises made then remained largely declarative, attacks on the Gaza Strip being carried out almost daily. During the march, organized under the close supervision of the police, demonstrators chanted "Free Palestine" and "Occupation is a crime". Some demonstrators carried placards with messages such as "Sanction Israel now" or "It is not a crime to act against a genocide". The Metropolitan Police in London indicated that X had arrested several people during the demonstration, including "a man and a woman with placards showing their support for the banned organization Palestine Action". This organization was defined last year as "terrorist" by the Labour government. In Germany, a similar demonstration, organized in Berlin by the 'United for Palestine' initiative, gathered about 3,500 people on the esplanade between the Chancellery and the Bundestag (the lower house of the German parliament). The demonstration began without disturbances. The placards and banners carried by the numerous participants bore messages against German arms exports to Israel. Taking into account its historical responsibility in the Holocaust, Germany is currently one of the largest supporters of Israel. According to the German parliament, the government delivered the export authorizations to Israel for military material in the second quarter of 2026 for an amount of approximately 736 million euros. A similar demonstration held in October 2025 gathered about 14,000 participants. Physical violence and the display of anti-Semitic symbols and slogans were reported during the demonstration, with the police arresting around 30 people. The attack carried out by the Palestinian terrorist movement Hamas on October 7, 2023, caused the deaths of 1,221 people in Israel. Another 251 people were abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip. The Israeli offensive launched in retaliation resulted in more than 74,200 deaths in the Gaza Strip, according to the Minister of Health in Gaza under Hamas authority.