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Israeli Strikes Kill Dozens In Gaza Despite Trump’s Call For Ceasefire
Dozens were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza Saturday, local health officials said, even after U.S. President Donald Trump urged Israel to halt bombing.
The demand followed Hamas’s declaration that it was ready to free hostages under his plan to end the two-year war.
With ceasefire talks due to begin in Egypt in the coming week, Trump said on Saturday on his Truth Social platform that Israel had agreed to an “initial withdrawal line” inside Gaza and that “when Hamas confirms, the Ceasefire will be IMMEDIATELY effective.”
“Dozens Killed”
At least 36 people were killed in bombardments and airstrikes in the devastated Palestinian enclave since Trump pressed Israel to halt its attacks late on Friday.
Eighteen people died in sporadic incidents, while 18 people, including children, were killed and several others wounded in an Israeli strike on a house in the Tuffah neighbourhood in Gaza City, medics said. The attack damaged several buildings nearby.
Israel said it had targeted a Hamas militant who had posed a threat to its troops in the area, and that reports of casualties were under review.
The military “regrets any harm caused to uninvolved civilians and works to mitigate harm to uninvolved civilians as much as possible,” it said in a statement.
Hamas said in a statement, referring to the Israeli prime minister, that “the continuation of the occupation’s bombing and massacres exposes Netanyahu’s lies about reducing military operations against civilians.”
Trump Presses Hamas To Move Fast
Early on Saturday, Trump said he appreciated that Israel had “temporarily stopped the bombing,” and he urged Hamas, the Palestinian militant group, to move quickly on his plan “or else all bets will be off.”
“I will not tolerate delay, which many think will happen, or any outcome where Gaza poses a threat again. Let’s get this done, FAST. Everyone will be treated fairly!” Trump said on Truth Social.
Hamas had drawn a welcoming response from Trump on Friday by saying it accepted certain key parts of his 20-point peace proposal, including ending the war, Israel’s withdrawal, and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian captives.
But the group has left some issues subject to further negotiation, as well as questions unanswered, such as whether it would be willing to disarm, a key demand from Israel to end the war.
Trump posted later on Saturday: “After negotiations, Israel has agreed to the initial withdrawal line, which we have shown to, and shared with, Hamas.”
He said that once Hamas agrees to it, a ceasefire would take effect, “the Hostages and Prisoner Exchange will begin, and we will create the conditions for the next phase of withdrawal.” He did not elaborate.
There was no immediate confirmation from Israel, which has shown little willingness to significantly pull back its forces. Hamas did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
Before Trump’s post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a televised statement that the first stage of the plan calls for Hamas to free the hostages and for Israeli forces to “redeploy in a way” that they “continue to hold all of the controlling areas deep inside the Strip.”
A White House official said Trump was sending his envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to Egypt to finalize the technical details of the hostage release and discuss a lasting peace deal.
Egypt will also host delegations from Israel and Hamas on Monday, the country’s Foreign Ministry said.
Netanyahu said the intention of Israel and the U.S. was to limit the negotiations to a few days.
Netanyahu said he hoped to announce the return of the captives during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, which lasts from October 6-13, all while the Israeli military remained deep in Gaza.
Hamas would be disarmed and Gaza demilitarized in the second phase of Trump’s plan, Netanyahu said, warning that it would happen either politically or militarily.
Trump’s plan sees the military eventually withdrawing to Gaza’s perimeter but does not lay out any time frame.
The prime minister spoke as tens of thousands took to the streets in Tel Aviv in support of a deal to end the war.
Hamas’ response to the plan drew optimistic statements from world leaders, who urged an end to the deadliest conflict involving Israel since its creation in 1948 and called for the release of Israelis still held in the enclave.
Another possible boost to peace hopes came with a supportive statement from the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which is smaller than Hamas but seen as more hardline.
The group, which also holds hostages, on Saturday endorsed Hamas’ response.
Hamas’ stance may raise the spirit of Gazans, who had watched one ceasefire effort after another fail as Israeli strikes hit the strip over the past two years, creating a humanitarian crisis and displacing millions.
Some Palestinians expressed fear that Netanyahu, who heads Israel’s most far-right government in its history, will ultimately withdraw from any plan to end the war.
“What is important is that Netanyahu does not sabotage this, because now that Hamas agreed, Netanyahu will disagree, as he usually does,” said Jerusalem resident Jamal Shihada.
Worldwide Support For End To ‘Horrific War’
Israeli media reported that the country’s political echelon had instructed the military to reduce offensive activity in Gaza.
Trump has invested significant political capital in efforts to end the war that has left U.S. ally Israel increasingly isolated internationally.
Trump said on Friday he believed Hamas had shown it was “ready for a lasting PEACE” and he called on Netanyahu’s government to halt airstrikes in Gaza.
Domestically, the prime minister is caught between growing pressure to end the war — from hostage families and a war-weary public — and demands from hardline members of his coalition who insist there must be no let-up in Israel’s campaign in Gaza.
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on X that halting attacks on Gaza was a “grave mistake.”
Israel began attacking Gaza after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel says 48 hostages remain, 20 of whom are alive.
Israel’s campaign has killed more than 67,000 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to Gaza health authorities.
(With inputs from Reuters)
U.S. Border Patrol Shoots Armed Woman In Chicago Amid Immigration Protests
U.S. Border Patrol shot an armed woman was in Chicago on Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security said.
The incident came as protesters clashed with federal immigration agents on the city’s southwest side.
No law enforcement officers were seriously injured in the incident in which a group that included the woman rammed cars into vehicles used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.
The woman, a U.S. citizen who was not identified, drove herself to the hospital, according to the statement.
No additional information was immediately available about the woman’s condition. ICE agents fired pepper spray and loaded rubber bullets as part of heated exchanges with protesters on Saturday.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a post on X that she was sending additional “special operations” to control the scene in Chicago’s Brighton Park neighbourhood.
The woman was armed with a semi-automatic gun, assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, a Democrat, said on Saturday that he was given an ultimatum by Republican President Donald Trump to deploy the state’s National Guard.
“It is absolutely outrageous and unAmerican to demand a Governor send military troops within our own borders and against our will,” Pritzker said in a statement.
Trump authorized 300 National Guard troops to protect federal officers and assets, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Reuters in a statement.
People in the Chicago area have staged repeated protests condemning the stepped-up federal presence.
On Friday, police scuffled with hundreds of protesters outside an ICE facility in the Chicago suburb of Broadview.
On multiple occasions, demonstrators sitting on the ground attempting to block ICE vehicles from carrying detainees into the facility have been repelled by heavily armed ICE agents using physical force, chemical munitions, and rubber bullets, evoking combat scenes.
Protesters have decried what they call similar heavy-handed policing in other Democratic-run cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Portland, Oregon.
A federal judge on Saturday temporarily blocked Trump from deploying 200 Oregon National Guard troops to Portland.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Gaza Flotilla Activists Claims Mistreatment With Thunberg By Israeli Forces
Some 137 Gaza flotilla detained by Israel for attempting to deliver aid to Gaza arrived in Turkey on Saturday after being deported. Two activists alleged that Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg was mistreated during her detention.
Israel did not immediately comment on the new allegations, but its foreign ministry earlier described reports that detainees had been mistreated as “complete lies”.
The activists who landed at Istanbul Airport included 36 Turkish nationals, as well as citizens from the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Algeria, Morocco, Italy, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Switzerland, Tunisia and Jordan, Turkish foreign ministry sources said.
Thunberg ‘Treated Terribly’, Activist Alleges
Two of them, Hazwani Helmi, a Malaysian citizen, and Windfield Beaver, an American citizen, told Reuters at the airport that they had witnessed Thunberg being mistreated, saying she was shoved and forced to wear an Israeli flag.
“It was a disaster. They treated us like animals,” said Helmi, 28, adding that detainees were not provided with clean food or water and that medication and belongings were confiscated.
Beaver, 43, said Thunberg was “treated terribly” and “used as propaganda”, describing how she was pushed into a room as Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir arrived.
Israel has faced international condemnation after its military intercepted all of about 40 boats in a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza and detained more than 450 activists.
Its foreign ministry wrote on X that all detained activists were “safe and in good health”, adding it was keen to complete the remaining deportations “as quickly as possible”.
In a separate X post, it accused some flotilla members of “deliberately obstructing” the deportation process, without providing evidence. Reuters was unable to independently verify the allegation.
Israel Denies Allegations Of Mistreatment
Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said 26 Italians were on board the Turkish Airlines flight, with another 15 still held in Israel and set to be expelled over the next few days – along with activists from other nations.
“I have once again given instructions to the Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv to ensure that the remaining compatriots are treated with respect for their rights”, Tajani wrote on X.
A first group of Italians from the flotilla – four parliamentarians – arrived in Rome on Friday.
“Those who were acting legally were the people aboard those boats; those who acted illegally were those who prevented them from reaching Gaza”, Arturo Scotto, one of the Italian lawmakers who took part in the mission, told a press conference in Rome.
“We were brutally stopped … brutally taken hostage”, said Benedetta Scuderi, another Italian parliamentarian.
According to Adalah, an Israeli group offering legal assistance to flotilla members, some detainees were denied access to lawyers, water, medications, and toilets.
They were also “forced to kneel with their hands zip-tied for at least five hours, after some participants chanted ‘Free Palestine,'” Adalah said.
Israel denied the allegations. “All of Adalah’s claims are complete lies. Of course, all detainees … were given access to water, food, and restrooms; they were not denied access to legal counsel, and all their legal rights were fully upheld,” a foreign ministry spokesperson told Reuters.
The flotilla, which set sail in late August, marked the latest attempt by activists to challenge the Israeli naval blockade of the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, where Israel has been waging a war since Palestinian militant group Hamas’ deadly attack on Israel in October 2023.
Israeli officials repeatedly denounced the mission as a stunt and warned it against violating a “lawful naval blockade”.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Russia Launches Mass Missile And Drone Attack On Ukraine, Killing Five
Russia launched a mass missile and drone attack on Ukraine overnight, officials said Sunday, killing at least five people and damaging infrastructure across multiple regions.
Over 50 Missiles And 500 Drones
Four deaths were reported in the western region of Lviv bordering Poland, where an industrial park in the regional capital was also set ablaze and parts of the city were left without power.
Lviv mayor Andriy Sadovyi urged residents to stay inside as authorities battled multiple fires.
A Reuters correspondent heard explosions booming across the early morning sky as air defences engaged targets from several directions.
In southeastern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia, one person was killed and nine others wounded in a combined attack that also left more than 73,000 customers without power, said governor Ivan Fedorov.
Civilian infrastructure was also damaged in the regions of Ivano-Frankivsk, Vinnytsia, Chernihiv, Kherson, Kharkiv and Odesa, said Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
“Another deliberate act of terror against civilians,” she wrote on X. “Moscow continues to strike homes, schools, and energy facilities — proving that destruction remains its only strategy.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces had fired more than 50 missiles and nearly 500 drones.
Russia, which has not yet commented on the attack, has stepped up strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid in recent weeks as the fourth winter of war approaches.
Poland Scrambles Jets
NATO member Poland said it scrambled aircraft early on Sunday to ensure its air safety.
“Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness,” Poland’s operational command said in a post on X.
Eastern-flank NATO members are on high alert after Poland shot down suspected Russian drones in its airspace in September and drone sightings and air incursions, including in Copenhagen and Munich, have led to chaos in European aviation.
Lithuania’s airport in Vilnius was closed for several hours overnight after reports of a possible series of balloons heading towards the airport late on Saturday.
According to flight tracking service Flightradar24, early on Sunday, commercial flights were using routings typically used when Poland’s Lublin and Rzeszow airports near the border with Ukraine were closed.
Reuters could not independently verify the Flightradar24 report.
There were no immediate notices on the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s website about possible flight disruptions in Rzeszow and Lublin.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Vietnam’s Economy Expands 8.22% In Q3 Despite U.S. Tariff Impact
Vietnam’s economy expanded 8.22% in the third quarter, accelerating from 7.96% in the second quarter, said the country’s government.
The growth came even as a 20% U.S. tariff on Vietnamese imports took effect.
“Highest Quarterly Growth Since 2011”
“It is the highest quarterly growth since 2011, excluding the surge in 2022 due to recovery post COVID-19 pandemic,” Finance Minister Nguyen Van Thang said in a government statement.
Vietnam’s total trade turnover, which includes imports and exports, surpassed $680 billion in the first nine months of this year, up 17% from a year earlier.
The country posted a trade surplus of $16.8 billion during the same period, the government said.
Sunday’s economic release did not include comprehensive trade data, a key variable as a 20% U.S. import tariff on most Vietnamese goods imposed by the Trump administration took effect on August 7, midway through the quarter.
The National Statistics Office is expected to release a full set of economic data, including detailed trade figures, on Monday.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said last month Vietnam expected exports to grow more than 12% this year.
But a United Nations Development Programme report said U.S. duties risked slashing by up to one-fifth of Vietnam’s exports to the United States, making it the hardest-hit country in Southeast Asia.
Vietnam would continue trade negotiations with the United States, the government and its trade ministry have said.
The third quarter was also marked by severe weather disruptions, with eight storms hitting the country, including Typhoon Bualoi, which caused an estimated 16.5 trillion dong ($625.5 million) in damage.
Growth In GDP
Over the first nine months of the year, GDP grew 7.84% compared to the same period in 2024, according to the government.
Vietnam is targeting gross domestic product growth of 8.3% to 8.5% this year.
That is faster than last year’s 7.09% growth, and higher than the World Bank’s forecast of 6.6% and the International Monetary Fund’s estimate of 6.5% growth.
The country’s 2025 growth faces headwinds from external economic pressures and slow-moving reforms, the government statement said. It also warned of escalating natural disasters that are expected to worsen in the final months of the year.
Consumer prices rose 3.27% year-on-year in the January–September period, with September inflation at 3.38%, it said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Clashes Erupt Near Palace As Georgia Holds Local Elections
On the day of municipal elections, Georgian riot police used pepper spray and water cannon to disperse opposition protesters near the presidential palace during a major demonstration.
The governing Georgian Dream (GD) party said it had clinched victory in every municipality across the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million in an election boycotted by the two largest opposition blocs.
Shortly before polls closed on Saturday, a group of demonstrators attempted to force entry to the presidential palace in the capital Tbilisi, a Reuters witness said, after opposition figures called for a “peaceful revolution” against GD, which they accuse of being pro-Russian and authoritarian.
Protests Under Way Since Last October
Georgia’s pro-Western opposition has been staging protests since October last year, when GD won a parliamentary election that its critics say was fraudulent. The party has rejected accusations of vote-rigging.
Once one of the most pro-Western nations to emerge from the ashes of the Soviet Union, Georgia’s ties with the West have frayed since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The government froze accession talks to the European Union soon after last year’s vote, abruptly halting a longstanding national goal and triggering large demonstrations that have continued since.
‘Protest Will Continue’
On Saturday, thousands of protesters gathered on Tbilisi’s central Freedom Square and Rustaveli Avenue, waving Georgian and EU flags.
Davit Mzhavanadze, who attended the demonstration, said the protests were part of “a deep crisis which is absolutely formed by our pro-Russian and authoritarian government.”
“I think this protest will continue until these demands will be responded to properly from our government,” he said.
A smaller group of demonstrators marched to the presidential palace and were repelled by police after attempting to break into the building. Some of them then barricaded a nearby street, lighting fires and facing off with riot police.
Georgian Dream, which is widely seen as controlled by founder Bidzina Ivanishvili, the country’s richest man and a former prime minister, denies it is pro-Moscow. It says it wants to join the EU while preserving peace with Russia, its huge neighbour to the north.
(With inputs from Reuters)
No More Looting, Says Malawi’s New President Mutharika
After being sworn in for a second term on Saturday, Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika firmly pledged to root out deep-rooted government corruption and take strong measures to revive the country’s struggling economy.
Mutharika, 85, secured more than 56% of votes last month, defeating outgoing president Lazarus Chakwera, 70, who took 33% of the total votes. Voters rejected Chakwera after five years of worsening economic crisis in one of the world’s poorest countries.
The September 16 vote marked the fourth presidential contest between Mutharika and Chakwera.
Ceremony In Blantyre Draws Large Crowd
Mutharika took the oath of office in a stadium in the commercial city of Blantyre packed with supporters dressed in the Democratic Progressive Party’s blue and white colours, as well as government officials and African heads of state.
In his inaugural address, he said his administration was inheriting a country in economic crisis.
Malawi is facing acute food shortages, cost-of-living pressures, and a lack of foreign exchange that has crippled businesses and led to persistent fuel shortages, the new President of the southern African nation said.
‘We Will Fix This Country’
“There is no money in government. Borrowing is extremely high, and nobody knows where the borrowed money has gone,” he said.
But he pledged improvements, saying: “We will fix this country.”
“I don’t promise you milk and honey. I promise you hard work, tough and painful decisions,” he said. “The honeymoon of looting government is over!”
Appeal For Investment
Mutharika also appealed to the international community for investment. He addressed US President Donald Trump directly, saying he would soon send a delegation to America to discuss his country’s prospects, especially after cuts in US foreign aid.
Chakwera’s Malawi Congress Party said in a statement that although the outgoing president was absent from the inauguration, he wished Mutharika success and good health.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Japan: Takaichi Pledges Gender Parity In Cabinet, Citing Nordic Example
In her bid to be Japan‘s first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi pledged to reduce the country’s substantial gender disparity in politics and increase female representation in the cabinet inline with Nordic countries.
Now that she has shattered the glass ceiling to be chosen leader of the ruling party on Saturday – setting her on course to emulate her hero Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female premier – Takaichi must try to deliver on promises her party has struggled to keep.
“The emergence of a single female leader alone may not drastically improve women’s standing in politics,” said Tohko Tanaka, a gender studies professor at the University of Tokyo, noting it was 26 years after Thatcher’s premiership before Britain had its second female leader, Theresa May.
Women Representation In New Cabinet
Japan’s next prime minister “must tackle gender issues with a long-term perspective, amid severe labour shortages and the alarmingly inadequate inclusion of women,” Tanaka said.
Japan ranked 118 out of 148 countries in the World Economic Forum’s latest Global Gender Gap Report, the lowest among the Group of Seven industrial powers.
While gender equality was not a top issue in the Liberal Democratic Party’s election campaign that focused on tackling inflation and rule-breaking foreigners, Takaichi’s promises to form a cabinet with women’s representation “not particularly lower than Nordic countries” stood out.
“I wouldn’t appoint women just because they’re women,” she told a party rally last week. “But the plan is to pick far more women who are capable and willing to serve the nation.”
Just 10% of outgoing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s 20 cabinet members are women, while its highest female representation was just above a quarter. Nordic governments range from Denmark’s 36% to Finland’s 61% female ministers.
To fill her cabinet, Takaichi has a relatively small pool of female lawmakers to draw from, although non-politicians are allowed to head government ministries. Only 13% of the LDP’s lawmakers across both houses are women, well short of the party’s target of 30% by 2033 – a goal already trailing a government target.
Promises Unfulfilled
Past initiatives to close Japan’s gender gap have delivered mixed results.
Former premier Shinzo Abe, Takaichi’s mentor, pulled more women into the workforce through his “womenomics” initiatives, but critics say progress has been too slow, especially for executive roles.
In 2020, the government pushed back its deadline of having women in at least 30% of leadership posts across society by a decade to 2030.
Takaichi also proposes measures such as establishing women’s health centres nationwide, but her broader conservative policies have damaged her support among some women, polls show.
For example, she has defended legal restrictions that married couples must use a single surname, which in practice means wives overwhelmingly take their husbands’ names and which critics say disproportionately affects women’s careers. Conservatives regard the current law as indispensable to family unity.
The centre-right LDP faces a challenge from Sanseito, an upstart far-right party whose leader has criticised gender equality policies for contributing to Japan’s record-low birthrate, a claim resonating in some anti-establishment movements globally.
(With inputs from Reuters)
‘Free Palestine’ Chants Echo In Rome as Protests Continue Across Italy
For the fourth consecutive day, large crowds gathered in central Rome on Saturday to protest after Israel intercepted an international flotilla carrying aid to Gaza and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organisers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
Praise For Hamas, Anti-Israel Chants
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilise individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilise, then nothing will change”.
The protest, in bright sunshine, was peaceful, with students, children and the elderly attending. It also featured at least one banner hailing Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, and anti-Israeli chants.
As the protest was ending, a small group broke away and clashed with anti-riot police. Officers used tear gas and water cannon, and some of the protesters were immobilised and handcuffed and taken away, according to a Reuters witness.
Protests Across The Globe
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, and in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, organisers said. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
‘Shameful Act’
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Saturday blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
(With inputs from Reuters)
Palestine Action Supporters Rally In London Despite Synagogue Attack, Six Arrested
Six people were arrested by London police on Saturday for showing support for the banned pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action and dispersed demonstrators who gathered for a protest. Authorities said the rally went ahead despite requests to cancel it after a deadly attack at a synagogue in Manchester earlier in the week.
Two people were killed in the attack in the northwestern city on Thursday and police shot dead the assailant, a British man of Syrian descent who counter-terrorism police said may have been inspired by extremist Islamist ideology.
Organisers refused requests by the police and government to call off the demonstration, which had been announced before the attack, to protest against the banning of Palestine Action group under anti-terrorism laws.
Starmer Calls For Calm
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called for calm in a post on X on Saturday morning, saying : “I urge anyone thinking about protesting this weekend to recognise and respect the grief of British Jews.”
“This is a moment of mourning. It is not a time to stoke tension and cause further pain. It is a time to stand together,” he said.
Police said six people were arrested after unfurling a banner on Westminster Bridge outside parliament in support of Palestine Action, which was proscribed in July after members broke into an airbase and damaged military planes.
Hundreds gathered for the main protest event in Trafalgar Square in central London, where police began carrying away protesters as seated activists wrote out slogans on placards declaring their support for Palestine Action. Onlookers chanted “shame on you” at officers.
The event is the latest in a series of protests, during which hundreds have been arrested for defying the government ban which makes it an offence to show support for Palestine Action.
Police said Saturday’s protests would draw resources away from security they have tightened around synagogues and mosques following Thursday’s attack.
Defend Our Juries, which organised Saturday’s protest, has condemned the attack on the Jewish community in Manchester, and urged police to focus on that, not policing the demonstration.
Antisemitic And Islamophobic Incidents
Thursday’s attack followed incidents of antisemitic and Islamophobic hate in Britain this summer, and pro-Palestinian marchers have taken to the streets to denounce Israel, drawing criticism from some members of the Jewish community.
Jewish and Muslim communities in Britain have expressed fears for their safety.
Israel has been waging war on Hamas in Gaza since the Palestinian terrorist group carried out a deadly attack on southern Israel communities two years ago.
Israeli strikes killed several people in Gaza on Saturday although U.S. President Donald Trump had urged it to stop its bombardment after Hamas said it was ready to release hostages and agreed to some aspects of a plan to halt the war.
Jewish and Muslim communities in Britain have expressed fears for their safety.
Hours after Thursday’s attack, pro-Palestinian protesters clashed with police at a demonstration outside Starmer’s office, drawing sharp condemnation from interior minister Shabana Mahmood who called their action dishonourable and un-British.
(With inputs from Reuters)