Seventeen people detained at pro-Palestinian demonstration in London

Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in central London on Saturday, ahead of the anniversary of the 7 October attacks in Israel.

The Metropolitan Police reported 17 arrests as part of a significant policing operation in response to the protests and memorial events taking place across the capital, Caliber.Az reports, citing foreign media.

Among the arrests, two individuals were detained on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation, including a protester who appeared to be wearing a parachute. Eight were arrested for public order offences, four of which were racially aggravated. Three individuals were arrested on suspicion of assaulting emergency workers, and one person for breaching a Public Order Act condition.

Protesters gathered in Bedford Square, waving Lebanese and Iranian flags and holding banners reading "we do not stand with genocide" and "Zionism is racism," while chanting "free, free Palestine."

Organisers targeted companies and institutions they claim are complicit in Israel's actions, blocking Tottenham Court Road outside a Barclays branch, where a sign read: "Shame on those who looked away from the sadistic genocide of mainly children in Gaza and the West Bank."

By Khagan Isayev