Sat Feb 15 18:56:11 UTC 2025: **Thousands Protest Trump’s Gaza Plan in London**
LONDON – Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through central London on Saturday to protest US President Donald Trump’s proposal to “take over” the Gaza Strip. The demonstration, one of 24 major pro-Palestinian protests in London since October 7th, followed the release of three Israeli captives by Hamas as part of a fragile ceasefire agreement.
The protesters, waving Palestinian flags and carrying signs like “Hands off Gaza” and “Mr Trump, Canada is not your 51st state. Gaza is not your 52nd,” marched from Whitehall to the US embassy. Their anger was directed at Trump’s plan to redevelop Gaza, resettle Palestinians elsewhere, and effectively erase the Palestinian claim to the territory. Critics, including 87-year-old Holocaust survivor Stephen Kapos, condemned the proposal as “completely immoral, illegal, impractical and absurd,” citing the impossibility of deporting two million Palestinians and the destabilizing effect this would have on neighboring countries.
The protest coincided with the completion of a prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel, part of the ceasefire deal. Hamas released the sixth batch of Israeli captives, reiterating that the release of all prisoners hinges on negotiations and adherence to the ceasefire agreement. The conflict, which began with a Hamas attack resulting in at least 1,100 Israeli deaths and over 240 captives, has claimed the lives of over 61,709 Palestinians according to the Government Media Office (with thousands more presumed dead under the rubble), and wounded over 111,676. Israel’s retaliatory campaign has resulted in over 48,239 Palestinian deaths. A heavy police presence managed to separate the pro-Palestinian marchers from a counter-demonstration.
First Piper 