Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators filled the streets of central London on Saturday, marking the 77th anniversary of the Nakba with a mass protest that culminated outside Downing Street.
Organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), the march aimed to draw attention to the ongoing displacement of Palestinians and pressure the UK government to take concrete action.
The Nakba, meaning “catastrophe” in Arabic, refers to the 1948 forced displacement of over 750,000 Palestinians during the establishment of the state of Israel. More than half of the Palestinian population was permanently uprooted, according to United Nations estimates.
The protest began at Embankment and passed landmarks including Big Ben and Waterloo Bridge before arriving at Downing Street. PSC organisers said the demonstration was held to demand an end to what they described as continued ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and to show solidarity with Gaza amidst ongoing Israeli military operations.
The Metropolitan Police, which implemented conditions under the Public Order Act to manage the event, estimated the turnout at around 20,000. However, organisers anticipated as many as 100,000 participants, making it one of the largest pro-Palestinian protests in the UK this year. Buses carrying protesters arrived from across the country, including from Wales and northern England.
A counter-protest organised by the group “Stop The Hate” took place simultaneously at the north end of Waterloo Bridge. Met officers confined the group to a designated area of the Strand, where demonstrators waved Israeli flags.
This year’s Nakba anniversary protest came amid reports of controversial discussions between former US President Donald Trump’s administration and Libyan officials about relocating up to one million Palestinians from Gaza to North Africa, in exchange for financial compensation. These reports have sparked strong reactions and revived painful memories of the Nakba among many Palestinians and their supporters.
Since the war broke out following Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel, London has seen a series of major pro-Palestinian demonstrations. According to the Metropolitan Police, the Armistice Day march in 2023 drew an estimated 300,000 people—the largest since the conflict began.
The Hamas attacks killed around 1,200 people and saw over 250 hostages taken into Gaza. In response, Israel launched a sweeping military campaign in Gaza, which local authorities say has killed over 53,000 people and displaced nearly the entire population of 2.3 million.
Efforts to broker a ceasefire have been stalled, with both Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu showing little willingness to compromise. Netanyahu’s government recently authorised additional military operations in Gaza, drawing sharp criticism from humanitarian agencies and international leaders.
Global organisations continue to call for unrestricted access to humanitarian aid in Gaza, warning of severe shortages of food, medicine, and water as the conflict drags on. Protesters in London echoed these demands, urging the UK government to apply diplomatic pressure and halt arms sales to Israel.
With support for Palestine growing among parts of the UK public, the Nakba anniversary protest stands as another powerful expression of solidarity—and a call for political accountability from Westminster.
