Hundreds of people have gathered outside the prime minister’s office at 10 Downing Street in London to demand the British government push for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon. They also called for an arms embargo on Israel.
"Hands off Lebanon. Hands off Gaza." A desperate plea for UK government action as Israel expands its genocidal war on Gaza into Lebanon.
We are asking the UK government to stop all armed exports to Israel. They are complicit.
We are complicit with our tax money that people in our home countries are being bombed, are being massacred in Gaza and now in Lebanon, and soon, the entire region if Israel continues, and if our government is not pushing for a ceasefire or putting enough pressure on its allies the US and Israel.
Protestor 01
Nearly a year into the Gaza genocide and the UK support for Israel has remained unshaken, with not much hope that it'll be any different now that Lebanon is under attack if public pressure relents.
This is what the British government has always been; it's what Britain has always been.
It is our responsibility to hold it to account, and if anything, it's the responsibility of all of us today, and I blame perhaps more of those who could do more but choose not to, not in government but outside of government, to put pressure on the government.
Protestor 02
The time to leave is now.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer
To avoid a repeat of the Afghanistan evacuation fiasco of 2022 the UK military has been tasked with the evacuation of British nationals from Lebanon. Those who remain face a genocidal enemy.
I remember the words of Tony Benn when our government was voting on whether to support the Iraq War, and he said this in Parliament:
"Don't Iraqi women weep for their children? Don't their children bleed when they're bombed, don’t they die? What fools are we to think otherwise?"
Well, the same thing stands now, if our government is concentrated on getting our citizens out of harm's way, what about the civilians of Lebanon?
Don't they deserve our consideration?
Ben Jamal, Palestine Solidarity Campaign Organizer
As the world waits for politicians to stop procrastinating and actually do something, Israeli airstrikes continue to take lives both in Gaza and Lebanon.
This week, Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General, warned that Lebanon was on the brink of becoming a second Gaza, and that is what these protesters say they are here to try and prevent, as well as to call on the British government to impose an arms embargo on the Israeli regime.