Thousands of people marched again in London on Saturday to demand a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, in the 11th nationwide demonstration in the British capital since October 7, AFP reported.

Pro-Palestinian protest in LondonPhoto: Marcin Nowak/LNP / Shutterstock Editorial / Profimedia

According to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures, attacks on Israel that day killed 1,160 people, mostly civilians. According to Hamas, the Israeli response resulted in 32,705 deaths in the Gaza Strip.

“We are calling for a permanent ceasefire to end what the world’s highest court has recognized as genocide,” Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, one of the organizers of the march, told Sky News.

In January, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s highest judicial body, ordered Israel to do everything possible to prevent “genocide” in the Palestinian territories. Israel considers these accusations “scandalous”.

Accusing the British government of “green-lighting” Israel’s actions, including continuing to allow arms exports, Ben Jamal said a “fundamental change in British government policy” was needed. “Until we get that, we will continue to march,” he warned.

“It’s important for Palestinians to know that people support them, that they are not alone,” Sally Worgan, 65, a former social worker, told AFP during the procession.

She also felt that “governments should listen”, which the British executive eventually did, but “it took a lot of demonstrations for people to realize”.

As reported by the Westminster Police, law enforcement agencies have arrested a man suspected of soliciting support for a banned organization.

A counter-demonstration was organized along the route of the march with Israeli flags and posters saying “Hamas is a terrorist organization.”

The British government is calling for an “immediate humanitarian pause” that will lead to “lasting peace”.

Most of the 2.4 million residents of the Gaza Strip are at risk of starvation, as UN agencies have been warning for weeks.

On Thursday, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to provide “urgent humanitarian aid” to Gaza in the face of “enduring famine.”