‘Pro-Palestine’ protesters wear pictures of paragliders – police make seven arrests

Tens of thousands of people gathered for pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the UK amid growing international concern over the situation in Israel and Gaza.

Marchers filled the streets of central London on Saturday as thousands also gathered in Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and other parts of the UK.

Among those in London were individuals wearing pictures of paragliders on their backs – an apparent tribute to Hamas terrorists who used paragliders to enter Israel where they raped, mutilated and massacred 260 youngsters at a music festival.

Demonstrators carried flags and flares and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans as marchers heard calls for world leaders to condemn Israel’s actions.

More than 1,000 officers were deployed by the Metropolitan Police before Saturday’s demonstration in the capital, with police saying in advance that anyone showing support for Hamas may face arrest.

Certain areas of London were covered by a Section 60AA power, which requires a person to remove items that might be used to conceal their identity, such as masks, until the early evening.

Section 12 of the Public Order Act covered the route of the demonstration, which finished in Whitehall mid-afternoon.

The Met confirmed that as of 5.30pm, seven people at the demonstration had been arrested for a number of alleged offences including one person on suspicion of causing criminal damage.

“There have been small pockets of disorder; flares, bottles and fireworks have been thrown at police,” the force said in a post on social media.