Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters march in London and yell 'shame on you' and 'stop bombing Iran' at pro-Israeli counter-demo
Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters have marched through Central London today yellow 'shame on you' and 'stop bombing Iran ' at pro-Israeli counter-demo.
Demonstrators were heading to Whitehall from Russell Square in central London and waved Palestinian flags and chanted 'free, free Palestine,' 'occupation no more, ' Israel is a terrorist state,' and 'stop bombing Iran'.
Campaigners gathered in large numbers under the banner of the Palestine Coalition.
Many shouted 'shame on you' as they passed a group of counter-protesters assembled near Waterloo Bridge by the pro-Israeli group Stop the Hate.
The march, which began around midday in Russell Square, is moving through Aldwych and the Strand before concluding with a rally and speeches in Whitehall.
The protest is one of several demonstrations taking place in central London this weekend, and police have introduced a number of restrictions aimed at limiting disruption.
The Metropolitan Police have set conditions on where and when protests can take place.
Those taking part in the Palestine Coalition march were required to remain in a designated part of Russell Square before the march set off.
It follows a specific route through central London, and gather only within a defined area in Whitehall for the rally.
The final assembly is permitted to continue until 5:30pm, with the stage positioned in a police-approved location.
The Stop the Hate counter-protest is being held near the junction with the Strand, just north of Waterloo Bridge.
That demonstration was not allowed to begin before 12:30pm and must also finish by 5:30pm, with participants confined to a set area.
Police say additional conditions may be imposed on other demonstrations over the weekend if needed.
Israel and Iran are locked in a phase of conflict marked by deadly strikes, missile barrages, and rising fears of regional war.
So far, Israel has targeted multiple Iranian nuclear sites and has damaged the Natanz FEP.
Tel Aviv used fighter jets and a secret drone base near Tehran to batter nuclear facilities, missile launch sites and decapitate military command - in a move that Netanyahu has dubbed Operation Rising Lion.
In response Iran fired back a barrage of ballistic missiles including at capital Tel Aviv, some of which were intercepted by the country's defence system.
Dramatic footage showed Israel's Iron Dome intercepting the salvo of missiles above the city's skyline - but some could not be stopped including one that blasted into the side of a building with people reportedly trapped inside.
Iran claimed they fired 'hundreds' of missiles, however the IDF insisted fewer than a hundred were launched, with most either 'intercepted or fallen short'.
Today Israel has said it has killed an October 7 mastermind and struck a nuclear site in its latest wave of strikes against Iran, a day after Tehran said it would not negotiate over its nuclear programme while under threat.
The state warned the conflict will be prolonged as US President Donald Trump said Iran could launch a nuclear war in just 'weeks' due to its nuclear capabilities.
Saeed Izadi, who led the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' overseas arm, was killed in a strike in an apartment in the Iranian city of Qom, said Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz.
It comes after a 5.1-magnitude earthquake hit northern Iran today as Israel pounded the country with repeated waves of air strikes.
Israeli strikes on Iran have killed more than 400 people since they began last week, Iran's health ministry said in an updated toll on Saturday, as fighting raged between the two nations.
This week Israeli security officials confirmed they have not targeted Iran's underground Fordow nuclear facility.
To have any hope of eliminating it without resorting to its own nuclear weapons, Israel would likely need to harness the power of some of the world's most powerful conventional bombs.
The 30,000-pound (14,000-kilogram) GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), a US-made bunker-busting bomb that uses its weight and sheer kinetic force to reach deeply buried targets, could manage to take Fordow out.
This terrifying munition can penetrate some 200 feet (61 meters) below the surface before exploding, and the bombs can be dropped one after another, effectively drilling deeper and deeper with each successive blast.
The US has not yet entered the conflict, but President Trump has said a decision on military involvement could come within two weeks.
The decision was announced by the White House's press secretary Karoline Leavitt in which she said the president was still holding out on a diplomatic solution, though wouldn't provide details about what U.S.-Iran talks would look like.
Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,' the Trump statement read.
Leavitt also said she welcomed a question when a journalist asked if Iran was a few weeks away from 'obtaining enough enriched uranium to start building a weapon' or 'completing production of a weapon.'
'Let's be very clear, Iran has all that it needs to achieve a nuclear weapon,' Leavitt answered. 'All they need is a decision from the Supreme Leader to do that.'
'And it would take a couple of weeks to complete the production of that weapon, which would, of course, pose an existential threat not just to Israel but to the United States and to the entire world,' Leavitt continued.
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