Humanitarians hold London vigil for all killed on and since 7 October attacks

A small gathering of British humanitarian workers held a vigil outside of Parliament on Monday evening to mark the lives of all those killed in the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel and the ensuing war on Gaza in the year that has passed since October 2023.

The names of more than 35,000 people killed in the conflict were printed in small text on a 15-metre scroll, including Israelis, Palestinians, foreign nationals who were living in Israel and international aid workers in Gaza. The first quarter of the list were children.

"This symbolic record is meant to mark and grieve for each life lost, honouring the memory of every person caught in the senseless violence," said the NGO organisers.

Their group stood in sombre silence holding the scroll, as commuters in steamy buses and packs of bikers glanced over. The bells of Big Ben tolled.

"We know that, over the last 12 months, there have been tens of thousands of lives lost, almost all of those in horrible circumstances," said Neil Sammonds, a senior campaigner for the UK-based charity, War on Want.

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