Police arrested 40 people after clashes with officers at a pro-Palestine protest near Downing Street on Thursday evening. The Metropolitan Police confirmed that six arrests were for assaults on police officers, with the majority for breaching conditions imposed under the Public Order Act.
The demonstration, organised by Global Movement for Gaza UK, drew up to 300 people demanding protection for Greta Thunberg's Gaza-bound flotilla and protesting the proscription of Palestine Action. Scotland Yard said officers imposed conditions to keep roads open and prevent serious disruption, but a significant number of protesters breached them, leading to clashes.
The protest came amid heightened tensions after the deaths of two Jewish men in a terrorist attack at a Manchester synagogue earlier on Thursday. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood expressed disappointment that the protest went ahead, calling the behaviour 'fundamentally un-British' and urging protesters to allow the community time to grieve.
Footage from Westminster showed police vans at the scene and physical confrontations, with protesters heard shouting 'death to the IDF'. The protest has since dispersed and Whitehall has returned to normal, police said.
