Hundreds of pro-Palestine protesters have gathered outside Downing Street this evening in the wake of last night’s devastating Gaza hospital blast.

Outside the gates leading to No.10, people held placards calling for an end to the ‘massacre’ of innocent civilians as the violence in the region shows no signs of abating. 

Those who braved the rain and wind to go to the demonstration also held placards calling for ‘freedom for Palestine’ and accusing Israel of committing ‘genocide in Gaza’.

Supporters of the Palestinian territory lit candles for the victims of the explosion at al-Ahli hospital, which is believed to have killed hundreds of people and has sparked a venomous blame game between Israel and Hamas.

Hamas has blamed the destruction on an Israeli air strike, although the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) has it was caused by a misfired rocket from terrorist group Islamic Jihad.

A pro-Palestine activist cries at a vigil at Downing Street on Wednesday evening for the people killed at the Al-Ahli hospital explosion

Hundreds of pro-Palestine activists gather outside Downing Street for a protest against the violence in the Middle East

Pro-Palestine supporters kneel on the floor and pray outside the gates of Downing Street

A woman cries as she holds a candle in the rain during the vigil outside Downing Street tonight

A woman at the vigil holds up a placard calling for an end to the ‘massacre in Gaza’ with a photo attached showing the destruction at the hospital

Protesters chant and sing songs at the protest, which was held in the pouring rain in Whitehall 

One protester weeps as she pays her respects to those killed in the hospital blast

Attendees at Wednesday night’s protest outside Downing Street chanted ‘from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ after gathering from 5pm.

Prayers were then held in Arabic, with attendees laying out plastic sheets on the ground to pray on.

Among the attendees was Marja Carter, 26, who said the events of the past week have been ‘devastating’.

‘Events in Gaza have been absolutely devastating,’ she said.

‘I find it absolutely disgraceful that our Government has been so unable to take a stand.’

She said that Palestinians in Gaza have ‘suffered enough’.

‘We cannot continue to ignore the situation any longer.

‘I feel like our Government only cares about it when it spills over into their strategic interests.’

A British-Palestinian woman, who did not wish to be named, said she was at the vigil to ‘mourn’.

‘We are half-Palestinian, our family are from the West Bank,’ she said.

‘We are here to mourn everyone who has died in the last week, and since the beginning of the occupation.’

She said that the vigil felt ‘sad and cathartic’.

She added that the Government needs to ‘wake up and acknowledge our humanity’.

Another attendee, Hannah, 27, said that the British Government must hold Israel accountable.

‘I think they can hold the Israeli Government accountable a bit more, and ask them more difficult questions,’ she said.

‘They say that they don’t control the media but they could encourage the media to show both sides more honestly.’

There have been a number of pro-Palestine protests on the streets of London and around the world since violence in and around Israel escalated to new heights last week.

Some of these have been marred by ugly scenes of violence targeted towards police and vile chants aimed at Jewish people including one in Sydney where a protester called for them to be ‘wiped out’.

An activist waves a Palestinian flag as the demonstration takes place in Whitehall on Wednesday evening

Protesters hold up a sign that says ‘what crimes must Israel commit for the world to help Palestine?’ outside the gates of Downing Street

Demonstrators hold a banner that says ‘end the genocide in Gaza’ and placards with the names of people believed to have been killed in the hospital blast

Supporters light candles at a vigil to those who were killed in the explosion at Al-Ahli hospital

Speaking before the protest, the Metropolitan Police said it was putting additional officers on the streets of Whitehall.

It wrote on Twitter: ‘ We have additional officers deployed to a vigil in Whitehall this evening to ensure that people can attend safely. There may be some disruption to traffic in the area so drivers are advised to consider avoiding the area.

‘We would like to thank organisers of events for proactively engaging with us to discuss their plans, and would encourage anyone who intends to hold events such as vigils, marches or protests, to speak with the police so we can co-ordinate our plans and minimise disruption.’

Terror attacks by Hamas, which runs the territory of Gaza, killed hundreds of Israeli civilians as militants crossed the border and attacked communities and a music festival on October 7. 

The attack, which also saw the terrorists take scores of hostages, has sparked air strikes from Israel that have killed thousands of people in Gaza, while the IDF is also getting set to mount a ground invasion of the territory.

Last night’s explosion, which saw the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital – a medical facility funded by the Anglican Church – devastated, has raised tensions in the region even further.

A woman holding an umbrella with one hand uses her other hand to hold a sign that says ‘stop killing Palestinians’

A man prays during the pro-Palestine demonstration outside Downing Street on Wednesday evening

A woman holds a placard calling for a ceasefire in Gaza as the violence continues in the Middle East

A man holds a placard which says ‘Free Palestine, Exist! Resist! Return!’ at the demonstration

Activists huddle under a gazebo in Whitehall as rain pours down on the protest 

The Palestinian Authority’s health minister, Mai Alkaila, accused Israel of carrying out ‘a massacre’.

Officials in Palestine said at least 471 people had been killed and over 300 wounded, some in critical condition.

AFP correspondents saw dozens of bodies at the scene. Medics and civilians recovered bodies wrapped in white cloth, blankets or black plastic bags.

Bloodstains and torched cars could be seen in the hospital courtyard.

Images of the hospital after the strike published by the Maxar satellite monitoring group show the hospital buildings mainly appeared to be intact.

Maxar said their images reveal ‘a probable discoloured blast area in the main parking area of the hospital compound’ with no ‘significant structural damage to the adjacent buildings’.

Israel has insisted it is not responsible for the horrifying explosion, claiming that an Islamist group based in Palestine had accidentally caused it.

The Jewish state’s adversaries – Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), Hezbollah and Iran – insist the IDF was behind the devastation and vowed to take revenge.

A Palestinian girl carries a blankets as she walks past the explosion site at al-Ahli hospital, in Gaza City

A man tries to collect usable belongings amid wreckage of vehicles after Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital was hit in Gaza City, Gaza on October 18, 2023

The scene at Al Ahli hospital in Gaza 18 October 2023 following Tuesday’s blast after the building was hit by an air strike

Before and after images of the blast site published by Israel allegedly showed the damage could not have been caused by an Israeli airstrike 

Speaking to media on Wednesday morning, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari showed a series of images, satellite photos and intelligence documents he said proved the damage caused at the hospital could not possibly have come from an Israeli strike.

He explained the images showed there was no structural damage to buildings around the Al-Ahli hospital, no craters in the adjacent car park, and no debris consistent with an air strike, implying a direct hit from an Israeli missile would have caused far more destruction.

‘The walls stay intact. There are no craters in the parking lot. These are the characteristics that show it was not an aerial munition that hit the parking lot,’ he concluded.

He also pointed out images of what he claimed was shrapnel on the roof of nearby buildings, suggesting the rocket fell apart in the air and sprayed its detritus across a larger area.

Israeli officials also released a video apparently of the moment a rocket streaking towards Israel from Gaza appeared to suffer a problem and suddenly changed course.

The projectile is seen soaring through the air before jerking away from its original path. Seconds later the flames from its engines spark even brighter before flaming out completely.

In the darkness, it is not clear whether the rocket broke apart or simply lost its trajectory. But moments later, a pair of explosions erupt in the city below – the result of what Israel claims was the rocket falling back to Earth and striking the hospital in Gaza City.