{"id":135709,"date":"2025-08-11T01:09:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T01:09:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/135709\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T01:09:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T01:09:14","slug":"hundreds-march-in-london-urging-release-of-hostages-held-in-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/135709\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds march in London urging release of hostages held in Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

Will Vernon<\/p>\n

BBC News, central London<\/p>\n

\"EPAEPA<\/p>\n

Hundreds of pro-Israel demonstrators marched through central London on Sunday, <\/b>demanding the release of hostages still held in Gaza and to show their support for the country.<\/p>\n

Protesters led by the UK’s chief rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and the Jewish direct action group Stop The Hate held Israeli flags and placards showing the faces of hostages.<\/p>\n

Some expressed anger at the UK’s intention to recognise a Palestinian state<\/a> in September unless Israel meets certain conditions, with several people telling the BBC that this was a “reward for Hamas”.<\/p>\n

One man, who was not part of the march, was arrested for common assault and a racially aggravated public order offence, the Metropolitan Police said.<\/p>\n

Two further arrests for assault were made “following a disagreement between attendees in the crowd,” it added.<\/p>\n

The force estimated 2,000 people took part in the protest.<\/p>\n

Small scuffles briefly broke out near Trafalgar Square with a handful of people chanting pro-Palestinian slogans. Some were led away by police.<\/p>\n

Adam Ma’anit, who lost several family members in the Hamas-led cross-border attacks on 7 October 2023<\/a>, said the UK government had not “exhausted all possibilities” to free the remaining hostages.<\/p>\n

“The freedom of the hostages unlocks new pathways, and it’s the swiftest way to break the crisis in the Middle East,” he told the BBC.<\/p>\n

“I want the UK government to stop messing things up,” he said, referring to what he called its “bungled” announcement regarding possible recognition of a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n

\"ReutersReuters<\/p>\n

Adam Ma’anit said the UK government could do more to help secure the release of hostages still being held in Gaza<\/p>\n

It is thought 20, of the remaining 50 hostages held in Gaza, are believed to be alive.<\/p>\n

Some protesters held pictures of Evyatar David – the 24-year-old who was shown looking emaciated and weak in a Hamas video<\/a> released earlier this month, prompting outrage both in Israel and internationally.<\/p>\n

Julie, who did not want to give her second name, told the BBC that “we need to carry on remembering” the hostages.<\/p>\n

“We need to get them home. We need more people here. There’s a lot of moral confusion going on at the moment.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Julie, one of the protesters, said the hostages should not be forgotten<\/p>\n

Sir Keir Starmer said in July that the UK will recognise a Palestinian state in September<\/a> unless Israel takes “substantive steps to end the appalling situation in Gaza”.<\/p>\n

The prime minister said Israel must also meet other conditions, including agreeing to a ceasefire, committing to a long-term sustainable peace that delivers a two-state solution, and allowing the United Nations to restart the supply of aid.<\/p>\n

But many protesters said Sir Keir should be prioritising the release of the hostages.<\/p>\n

“The hostages have been rotting in the tunnels and the British government haven’t been putting pressure on Hamas,” said Daniel, another protester. <\/p>\n

“It’s outrageous.”<\/p>\n

A large security presence was in place for the march, including police and Jewish safety groups.<\/p>\n

Many of the protesters held signs saying ‘end Jew hatred’, with several attendees telling the BBC they were concerned for their safety in the UK.<\/p>\n

Jewish groups say there has been a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents in Britain since 7 October 2023, the date of the Hamas-led attacks on Israel when about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.<\/p>\n

Since then, 61,430 people have been killed in Gaza as a result of Israeli military operations, the health ministry says.<\/p>\n

Sunday’s protest came a day after protesters marched through central London to express support for Palestinians, in a demonstration organised by the Palestine Coalition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Will Vernon BBC News, central London EPA Hundreds of pro-Israel demonstrators marched through central London on Sunday, demanding…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":135710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[99,50],"class_list":{"0":"post-135709","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-israel","9":"tag-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115007465995146559","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=135709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/135709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=135709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=135709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=135709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}