UK: Tens of thousands rally in London for Gaza ceasefire as tensions rise in Middle East
Tens of thousands of people rallied in central London on Saturday to oppose the United Kingdom's continued support for Israel's war on Gaza, days after the killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukur triggered fears of a regional conflict.
Marchers began at Park Lane amid a heavy police presence, as the Metropolitan Police face continued pressure to "manage" Palestine solidarity protests.
Weaving their way through the heart of London towards parliament, the protesters called for a ceasefire in Gaza and chanted "free Palestine" and "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free", demanding equal rights for Palestinians between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean.
For nearly 10 months, hundreds of thousands of protesters have attended rallies in London and elsewhere in the UK after Israel began its bombardment of Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October.
The Israeli army's aerial and ground offensive has devastated much of the territory, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, turning it into an uninhabitable hellscape.
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Entire neighbourhoods have been erased. Homes, schools and hospitals have been decimated by air strikes and scorched by tank fire. Some buildings are still standing, but most are now battered shells.
Fears of a wider regional war have grown in recent days following the dual assassinations, which have also threatened to derail talks aimed at stopping the war in Gaza.
Haniyeh, a veteran Hamas official who played a key role in ceasefire negotiations, was killed alongside his long-serving bodyguard, Wasim Abu Shaaban, on Wednesday, hours after they attended a swearing-in ceremony for Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
Three individuals who were in the heavily guarded building in Tehran where Haniyeh was assassinated told Middle East Eye on Friday that he was killed by a projectile fired at his room, not a planted bomb.
One of these individuals, who was staying in a room near Haniyeh's, reported hearing sounds consistent with a missile before an explosion shook the building.
The other two, who were staying on separate floors, witnessed the aftermath, which included the partial collapse of the ceiling and exterior wall of Haniyeh's room.
Israel has claimed responsibility for the killing of Shukr in Beirut but has not acknowledged any role in the killing of Haniyeh.
Speaking in Mongolia on Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned that the region was heading towards more "conflict, more violence, suffering, or insecurity, and it is crucial that we break the cycle".
"It's urgent that all parties make the right choices in the days ahead because those choices are the difference between staying on this path of violence, of insecurity, of suffering or moving to something very different and much better for all parties concerned," he said.
On Friday, US President Joe Biden said the assassination "doesn't help" ceasefire talks, adding that he was "very concerned" about rising tensions in the Middle East.
"We have the basis for a ceasefire. He [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] should move on it and they [Hamas] should move on it now," he said.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has promised a "harsh punishment" for Israel, saying it is "our duty to seek revenge for his blood as he was martyred in the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran".
Pezeshkian said on Wednesday that "the Zionists [Israel] will soon see the consequences of their cowardly and terrorist act."
Meanwhile, Hamas political bureau member Musa Abu Marzouk has also promised retaliation, saying: "The assassination of leader Ismail Haniyeh is a cowardly act and will not go unanswered."
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