LONDON, July 22: Thousands of demonstrators marched through London and hundreds more gathered in Amsterdam and Chicago on Saturday to protest Israeli attacks in Lebanon and the refusal of the US and British governments to condemn them.

Police said around 7,000 people joined the London protest as it snaked from the banks of the Thames to Hyde Park, first in brilliant sunshine and then in torrential rain.

Many carried red and white Lebanese flags and placards condemning ‘Israeli crimes in Lebanon’.

“Having seen the devastation on our TV screens in recent days, it’s impossible to view the Israeli response as anything other than a gross overreaction said Yasmin Ataullah, spokeswoman for the British Muslim Initiative, one of the groups behind the rally.

Hundreds more protesters took to the streets of Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Newcastle and Sheffield.

In the United States, several hundred demonstrators gathered in bright sunshine in downtown Chicago for a rally to protest Israeli military actions in Lebanon and Gaza.

In Amsterdam, around 700 people gathered near Dam Square to condemn the Israeli assault.—Reuters