Tens of thousands attend pro-Palestinian march in London

Protesters marched over Westminster Bridge towards Whitehall

Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters have gathered in central London a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect in Gaza.

The demonstration, organised by the Palestine Coalition, began along Victoria Embankment on Saturday afternoon - attendees then marched on Whitehall, where a rally was held.

Images showed a sea of Palestinian flags being carried over Westminster Bridge while a small group of counter-protesters gathered nearby, with many holding Israeli flags and signs calling for the return of hostages.

The Metropolitan Police said it had made 14 arrests for offences including breaching Public Order Act conditions, affray and supporting a proscribed group.

It made a number of arrests after a small group of counter-protesters breached conditions "by demonstrating at the form-up point of the Palestine Coalition protest", leading to a "scuffle" with members of the march.

"Officers were quickly on the scene to separate those involved," the force said.

As the protest began, stalls were selling keffiyeh scarves while people handed out placards for protesters. During the march, slogans such as "stop arming Israel" and "free Palestine" could be seen.

The director of Palestine Solidarity Campaign, one of the groups involved in the action, said it would "never stop" supporting Palestinians.

Ben Jamal said Israel was "capable of breaking the ceasefire at any time" and that the ceasefire plan did "nothing to address the root causes" of the conflict.

At the rally, speakers referred to the US-brokered ceasefire as a positive but "precarious" development - adding they would not stop protesting until Palestinians were fully free.

The ceasefire kicked in after the Israeli government approved the first phase of US President Donald Trump's ceasefire and hostage return deal on Thursday, but the next phases are still being negotiated.

Many of the details for the later phases could be hard to reach an agreement on, such as the governance of Gaza, the extent of Israeli troop withdrawal, and the disarming of Hamas.

A small crowd of counter-protesters - from a group calling itself Stop the Hate - also gathered near the march

The protest comes days after the prime minister said the UK government could consider pursuing more curbs on protest laws, including targeting some of the chants used at pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

Sir Keir Starmer said he wanted to "go further" than the measures announced a week prior, granting police forces broader powers to restrict repeat protests.

He had separately called for such protests to be postponed after the terror attack at a synagogue in Manchester last week, which killed two Jewish people - urging demonstrators to "respect the grief of British Jews".

However, demonstrations in support of the Palestine Action group did go ahead last week, with nearly 500 people arrested in central London.

The Met said 488 of the arrests were for supporting a proscribed organisation, with the youngest person held being 18 and the oldest 89.

The Israeli military launched a campaign in Gaza in response to the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

Since then, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed, including more than 18,000 children, the Hamas-run health ministry says.