Police presence expected at 'significant' Lebanon protest in London
The Metropolitan Police has said it will monitor a protest calling on Israel to halt its air strikes in Lebanon outside Downing Street on Thursday evening.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which has helped organise multiple pro-Palestinian marches in the past year, announced the protest on Tuesday on X, formerly Twitter, for 6pm on Thursday.
The group called for the UK government to push for a ceasefire and to stop sending arms to Israel.
The new Labour government has suspended around 30 out of a total of 350 arms export licences to Israel after a UK assessment suggested they could be used to breach international rules. A move that was criticised by the Israeli government but also failed to fully appease some pro-Palestinian groups.
Responding to Yahoo News UK, the Met Police said it will be "policing the protest as we do all significant protest in central London".
The protest is in response to the recent escalation of Israeli air strikes on Lebanon. Israel says it is targeting the Hezbollah militant group, which has been regularly launching rockets since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October last year.
Lebanon's health ministry has said more than 600 people have died because of the recent attacks, including women and children.
Israel rejected calls for a ceasefire on Thursday and has indicated the bombardment could pave the way for a potential ground offensive.
The UK has called for all British nationals to leave Lebanon and has sent 700 troops to Cyprus to facilitate the evacuation. Sir Keir Starmer said earlier this week: "I have a very important message for British nationals in Lebanon which is: the time to leave is now."
The Met Police has been criticised for how it has handled pro-Palestine protests in the past, with accusations of being too tolerant of antisemitic chants.
They were criticised when an officer told a Jewish man wearing a kippah cap walking through a pro-Palestine protest he was "quite openly Jewish".
The officer said: "You are quite openly Jewish. This is a pro-Palestinian march. I am not accusing you of anything, but I am worried about the reaction to your presence."
The Met later apologised for the comments made by the officer.
Antisemitic incidents soared after the escalation of violence following Hamas's incursion on Israeli territory on 7 October and Israel's retaliatory, months-long bombardment of Gaza.
Several people were arrested at previous marches, including a man seen carrying a coffin with offensive language written on it and another leading a chant of “intifada revolution”.
In July, four people were arrested on suspicion of public order offences at a pro-Palestinian march in central London.
