LONDON

Thousands of people on Saturday held a rally in the British capital to protest Israeli genocide and demand a total halt of arms shipment to Israel.

A large crowd first staged a die-in protest outside Downing Street, where the Prime Minister's Office is located, to commemorate more than 42,000 Palestinians who have been killed by Israel since October last year.

Later, the protesters started the march from Whitehall to the US Embassy by shouting pro-Palestinian slogans, including "Free Palestine."

Carrying Palestinian and Lebanese flags, people were also holding various signs to criticize the complicity of the British government in ongoing Israeli attacks.

Reiterating their immediate cease-fire calls, the group also demanded immediate arms embargo on Israel.

"On the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration we are marching from Whitehall to the US Embassy, Israel’s main backer today, to demand an end to Britain’s historic and ongoing complicity in Israel’s genocide," the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the leading organizer of the pro-Palestinian marches in the UK, wrote on X.

There was also a small group of pro-Israeli protesters on the route.

Israel has escalated its air campaign in Lebanon since late September against what it claims are Hezbollah targets in an escalation from year-long cross-border warfare between Israel and Hezbollah since the start of Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Nearly 2,900 people have been killed and more than 13,000 injured in Israeli attacks since last October, according to Lebanese health authorities.

Israel expanded the conflict by launching an incursion into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1.

Despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued a devastating offensive on Gaza since an attack last year by the Palestinian resistance group.

More than 43,300 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 102,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.