Thousands of protesters marched in central London to call for a ceasefire in Gaza amid ongoing bombardments by Israel after the deadly Hamas attack on its territory on October 7, AFP reports.

The march, from Hyde Park Corner to the US Embassy, was the fifth major demonstration of the year so far in the capital.

“We will continue to protest until a ceasefire is called, and until there is an end to all UK complicity with Israel’s decades-long oppression of the Palestinian people,” march organiser Ben Jamal said ahead of the protest.

Itai Galmudy, the organiser of a counter-protest today, said pro-Palestine demonstrations had created “no-go zones for Jewish people” in the capital and “ballooned into anti-Israeli hate marches”.

“We will just not accept that Jews can’t go out in the street because somebody wants to protest,” he said.

“We think it’s enough. We don’t want to live in fear and we will not accept it.”

“We are clearly operating in a context where we understand our Jewish and Muslim communities continue to be highly concerned about antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crime and their own sense of safety in London,” said Karen Findlay, who oversaw policing across London on Saturday.