Palestine’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom Husam Zomlot has spoken before a crowd in front of the Palestinian Mission in central London to mark its transition to becoming Palestine’s embassy in the country, Al Jazeera reports.

Holding up a plaque, he said, to cheers from the crowd: “Very soon, pending some legal work, some bureaucratic work … this plaque, which reads ‘The Embassy of the State of Palestine’ … will be placed right behind me on this building.”

He said that the moment was “not only about Palestine, it is also about Britain and the British government’s solemn responsibility”.

“It is about ending the denial of the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to freedom and self determination and it is an acknowledgement of a historic injustice,” he said.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Palestine exists, it has always existed and it always will.”