Thousands of protesters will take to the streets of central London today as a Pro-Palestine rally and march in solidarity with oppressed women around the world are held.
The demonstration organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) will take place in Whitehall from midday as a fixed rally following the row with the Met Police over its route.
Protesters targeting the BBC were planning to gather in Portland Place before marching to Whitehall but the Met blocked the planned route after concerns about the proximity to a synagogue. A police presence of over 1,000 officers has been promised to ensure no-one breaches conditions put on the protest.
The London’s Women’s March will assemble at the main entrance of Waterloo at 12pm, before heading towards Old Palace Yard outside the Houses of Parliament.
Please scroll down for the latest updates from the protests.
Israel’s full Cabinet approves the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal
09:39 , Will Mata
Israel’s Cabinet has approved the Gaza ceasefire deal that would pause the fighting and release dozens of hostages held by militants, along with Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
The approval came early on Saturday after a marathon session by the full Cabinet. The prime minister’s office has said that once the deal is approved, the ceasefire could start on Sunday with the first hostages released. This would be just the second ceasefire achieved in 15 months of war.
Under the deal, 33 hostages are set to be released over the next six weeks, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. The remaining hostages, including male soldiers, are to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first. The Hamas militant group has said it will not release the remaining captives without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.
Woman arrested for inciting others to breach the peace
09:37 , Will Mata
The Met Police has said a woman had been arrested for inciting others to breach the force’s restrictions.
The 61-year-old woman was arrested on Friday on suspicion of inciting others to breach Public Order Act conditions after she was allegedly heard at a rally on January 10 encouraging other protesters to do so, police said.
The Met said further investigations into other allegations of inciting people to breach conditions are ongoing.
Police pledge ‘visible presence’
09:02 , Will Mata
Deputy assistant commissioner Ade Adelekan said more than 1,100 officers are due to be deployed on Saturday, with 200 coming from other forces.
Questioned on whether the Met was putting a ring of steel around Broadcasting House, he said: “I wouldn’t describe it as a ring of steel.
“What I would describe it as is a visible presence of officers in and around the BBC/Portland Place area and surrounding streets.
“Firstly, their role is to engage with people, make sure people understand the conditions that are around there, and generally do their policing duties as they would do every day.
“If anyone is considering breaching those conditions, we have brought officers in from other forces, eight other forces, to assist – so we have got significant forces to enforce any breaches of conditions.”
Pro Palestine march replaced with static rally
08:12 , Will Mata
The pro-Palestine march which had been planned for central London has been replaced with a static protest at Whitehall.
A bitter row had previously broken out between the Met Police and Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) over proposals for the large pro-Palestine march to take place outside the BBC headquarters at Portland Place, with the force insisting that a protest there would risk “serious disruption” at a nearby synagogue.
The police had been in discussions with the PSC as well as community groups for weeks about plans for a march from Portland Place to Whitehall.
The force used powers under the Public Order Act to prevent the rally from gathering in the area.
The PSC now plans to hold the static rally in Whitehall, describing the Met’s conditions as “repressive”.
