Thousands attend London rally in solidarity with Israel
Thousands of people have turned out in central London in solidarity with Israel on the 100th day since Hamas launched its deadly attack.
The president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, thanked King Charles in a video message at the rally in Trafalgar Square on Sunday, mentioning Rishi Sunak and the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, as well.
People attending the rally, who filed into the square past bag searches, barricades and police and security officers, held posters that bore the faces of those who were taken hostage, and others that read “100 days in hell”.
Some brandished versions of the flag used by Iran before the 1979 revolution, with a sun and lion in the centre, which one man said represented opposition to the Iranian government.
A small group of counter-protesters from the Neturei Karta group gathered on a traffic island at the south of Trafalgar Square, according to the Metropolitan police.
The force originally said a man was arrested after forcefully taking a sign from the group and tearing it up, but in an updated statement the Met said the man was “detained but not ultimately arrested” after a review of CCTV confirmed he was not the person responsible.
Another man who shouted “antisemitic abuse from a passing car” was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated public order offence.
The former home secretary Suella Braverman attended the demonstration, telling the PA Media news agency: “I’m here to stand in solidarity with Israel. It has been 100 days since innocent people have been taken hostage by the Hamas terrorists and we need to bring them home now.”
In his video message, Herzog said: “In the face of those who wish to scare us into silence, you’ve stood up and spoken out with clarity, pride and passion, but it isn’t only within the Jewish community: across every branch of British leadership, the truth reigns clear.
“In the name of the state and people of Israel, I thank you all. I want to thank His Majesty King Charles III. I want to thank Prime Minister Sunak. I want to thank the UK government and I want to thank opposition leader Starmer and his colleagues.”
The rally heard from a number of other speakers including Tzipi Hotovely, the Israeli ambassador to the UK, Eric Pickles, the UK special envoy for post-Holocaust issues, and Labour MP Christian Wakeford.
Relatives of those who remain hostage also spoke at the demonstration. Yarden Bibas, 34, was captured on 7 October alongside his wife, Shiri, 32, and two children, Ariel, four, and baby Kfir, who was 10 months old when he was taken.
Bibas’s cousin Eylon Keshet told PA Media that the time Kfir had spent as a hostage “might be a death sentence”.
Hotovely thanked “London” for “100 days of consistent support”. She said the estimated 130 remaining hostages “continue to live a nightmare with every passing second” and issued a fresh demand for their immediate release.