Hundreds of protesters have attended a vigil outside Downing Street for victims of a deadly blast at a hospital in Gaza.
Hamas has blamed an Israeli air strike for Tuesday's explosion at al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City which killed hundreds of civilians, while the Israeli military said the hospital was hit by a rocket misfired by Palestinian militants.
US intelligence is reported to align with the Israel claims.
The incident has been widely condemned by the international community, and has sparked protests across the Middle East.
Braving heavy rain on Wednesday evening, protesters gathered in Westminster in central London, holding signs that read “stop the massacre” and “stop bombing Gaza”.
They also chanted “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.
Prayers were then held in Arabic, with attendees laying out plastic sheets on the ground to pray on.
Among attendees was Marja Carter, 26, who said the events of the past week have been “devastating”.
“Events in Gaza have been absolutely devastating,” she said.
“I find it absolutely disgraceful that our Government has been so unable to take a stand.”
She said that Palestinians in Gaza have “suffered enough”.
“We cannot continue to ignore the situation any longer.
“I feel like our Government only cares about it when it spills over into their strategic interests.”
A British-Palestinian woman, who did not wish to be named, said she was at the vigil to “mourn”.
“We are half-Palestinian, our family are from the West Bank,” she said.
“We are here to mourn everyone who has died in the last week, and since the beginning of the occupation.”
She said that the vigil felt “sad and cathartic”.
She added that the Government needs to “wake up and acknowledge our humanity”.
On Wednesday Rishi Sunak declined to call for a ceasefire in the region.
Another attendee, Hannah, 27, said that the British Government must hold Israel accountable.
“I think they can hold the Israeli Government accountable a bit more, and ask them more difficult questions,” she said.
“They say that they don’t control the media but they could encourage the media to show both sides more honestly.”
