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Protesters in London call for ‘lasting peace’ in Gaza
Palestinian groups reject foreign guardianship on Gaza
Tens of thousands of pro-Palestine protesters gathered in central London to call for “lasting peace” in Gaza, a day after the cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas came into effect.
The demonstration came as tens of thousands of Palestinians began returning to the ruins of their homes in Gaza following the withdrawal of Israeli forces after the US brokered cease-fire took effect on Friday.
Protesters chanted “death, death to the IDF” as they marched through central London, referring to Israeli occupation forces.
Around 500,000 people have gathered, according to organizers, despite a US-brokered ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas on Friday.
Pro-Palestine activists have continued to express anger at Israel over its military operations in Gaza following the October 7 attacks by Hamas, in which more than 1,200 Israelis were killed.
The protest’s organizers, who promised to make it the biggest pro-Palestine demonstration in British history, insisted that marches will continue until “a free Palestine” is achieved.
Ben Jamal, the director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign which organized the demonstration, said the march went ahead, despite a cease-fire coming into effect, because the “plan that has been laid out by Donald Trump is not a plan for enduring peace.”
He said the plan said “nothing about the root causes of violence” nor anything “about the system of apartheid” in Palestine or the “right to self-determination” for Palestinians.
Jamal added that the group’s campaigning and protesting will not end “until the Palestinian people are finally free.”
It was the 32nd national demonstration in support of Palestine since October 2023, according to the group.
Displaced Palestinians return home
Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians made their way back to their Gaza neighborhoods on Saturday, weaving through dust-shrouded streets as bulldozers clawed through the wreckage of two years of war and the cease-fire held in its second day.
Aid groups urged Israel to reopen more crossings to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, and about 200 US troops arrived in Israel to help retrieve hostages and monitor the cease-fire with Hamas.
Israel’s military has said that under the truce deal, the 48 captives still in Gaza would be freed on Monday.
Israel’s war on Gaza has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, flattened entire neighborhoods and displaced around 90% of Gaza’s more than 2 million people, some multiple times.
In Israel, families were awaiting the return of captives taken in the 2023 Hamas attack. Tel Aviv believes around 20 of the captives remain alive. Meanwhile, questions remain on who will govern Gaza after Israeli troops gradually pull back and whether Hamas will disarm, as called for in the cease-fire agreement.
Future governance of Gaza
Hamas and allied Palestinian factions reiterated that any decision on the future governance of Gaza is “an internal Palestinian matter.”
In a joint statement on Friday, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) joined Hamas in lauding the steadfastness of Palestinians, which they said foiled Israel’s plans for mass forced displacement in Gaza.
“We renew our rejection to any foreign guardianship, and we stress that the nature of the administration of the Gaza Strip and its institutions are an internal Palestinian matter to be determined by the national component of our people directly,” the statement said.
United States President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza plan includes the creation of a new international body, dubbed the “Board of Peace”, that would be tasked with overseeing an interim authority of technocrats to govern Gaza.
According to the scheme, Trump himself would chair the board, which would also include former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.