Eleven arrested as pro-Palestinian marches held in London

Eleven people were arrested as several pro-Palestinian demonstrations were held in London on Wednesday, the Metropolitan Police has said.

Among them were five people arrested on suspicion of inciting racial hatred at a protest outside the office of the Board of Deputies of British Jews in north London.

The force said the other arrests were made at student-led pro-Palestinian protests elsewhere in the capital, which went ahead despite calls for them to be postponed so they did not fall on 7 October. One of those arrested was part of a counter-protest.

Wednesday marked three years since the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken as hostages by the militant group.

Israel responded to the attack by launching a military offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Footage from the demonstration outside the Board of Deputies' Camden office showed a few dozen protesters, several of whom were wearing face coverings.

In a statement following the arrests, the Board of Deputies, the UK's largest Jewish community group, said it "would not be threatened or intimidated" and thanked police for their "swift" response.

Slogans "calling for intifada" were chanted during the protest, according to the Met. The five arrested remain in custody.

The term intifada came into popular use during the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1987.

Jewish groups have described the term as a call for violence against Jewish people. Pro-Palestinian groups have said it is a call for peaceful resistance to Israel's occupation.

The Board of Deputies held a vigil in Whitehall, central London, later on Wednesday to remember the victims of the 7 October attack.

A pro-Palestinian march attended by around 100 people took place between Lincoln's Inn Fields to Russell Square.

The Met had previously called for the student protest to take place on a different day, saying demonstrations on 7 October would cause distress on a day of mourning for Jewish students and staff.

Counter-demonstrators carrying Israeli flags also gathered in Russell Square. There were some minor scuffles between the two groups.

Five people were arrested for breaching conditions imposed on the march, which included an order not to wear face coverings, the Met said.

One of those who was arrested for breaching those restrictions was part of a counter-protest.

Another person on the pro-Palestinian march was arrested on suspicion of common assault.

The Met said the largest of Wednesday's demonstrations had ended ahead of a police-enforced dispersal time.

Pro-Palestinian protesters were heard chanting "Zionists not welcome here" and "free Palestine from the river to the sea".

Some use the chant as a call for Palestinian control of all land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, including Israel.

Critics say the slogan is a call for the destruction of the state of Israel.

That interpretation is disputed by pro-Palestinian activists, who say that most people chanting it are calling for an end to Israel's occupation of the West Bank and blockade of Gaza, not the destruction of Israel itself.