Hundreds of mourners gathered outside Downing Street to attend a vigil for the victims of a deadly explosion at a hospital in Gaza.
Palestinian officials blamed an Israeli airstrike for the explosion, while Israel has said the blast was caused by a failed rocket launch by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group.
According to Gaza’s health ministry, the explosion killed 471 Palestinians and wounded 314 others.
Amid heavy rain on Wednesday evening, protesters gathered in Westminster holding signs that read "stop the massacre" and "stop bombing Gaza".
Prayers were held in Arabic, with attendees laying out plastic sheets to pray on.
There has been widespread condemnation of the explosion at the Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital, where hundreds of Palestinians were seeking shelter from a siege launched in retaliation to Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel on October 7.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has called for a "calm and cool" response to the explosion, as intelligence services review evidence of who was behind it.
The prime minister has arrived in Israel for talks with its leaders, and will later travel to other countries in the region for further discussions, Downing Street has announced.
He is scheduled to hold talks with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the country’s president, Isaac Herzog on Thursday (October 19).
Number 10 said Sunak will travel “to a number of other regional capitals”, details of which have not been released for security reasons and because of the fast-changing situation.
Since Hamas’s attack on Israel on the morning of October 7, more than 1,400 Israelis have been killed and thousands injured, and at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed in retaliatory Israeli strikes on Gaza.
At least six British people are among those dead, prime minister Rishi Sunak said in the House of Commons on Monday, and 10 remain missing.
1. A protester, holding a placard reading a message in support of Palestinians, take part in a vigil outside Downing Street
There has been widespread condemnation of the explosion at the Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital, where hundreds of Palestinians were seeking shelter from a siege launched in retaliation to Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on October 7.
2. Mourners pray for the victims of the deadly attack on Al-Ahli al-Arabi hospital in Gaza
The al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City was packed with wounded Palestinians and those seeking shelter when the strike hit on Tuesday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
3. Crowds pray at a vigil for the victims of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion in Gaza
Since Hamas’s attack on Israel on the morning of October 7 more than 1,400 Israelis have been killed and thousands injured and at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed in retaliatory Israeli strikes on Gaza.
4. Pure grief and sadness outside Downing Street
Hamas claim the hospital explosion was caused by an Israeli air strike while Israel claim it was a rocket misfired by Palestinian militants Islamic Jihad.