TENS of thousands of people across Britain marched in support of Palestine on Saturday in a resounding display of solidarity.

London drew the largest crowds, topping 150,000, while mass protests took place in Cardiff, Glasgow and Birmingham. 

Thousands also gathered outside the BBC’s MediaCity headquarters in Salford, Greater Manchester, over the media outlet’s reporting of the conflict.

Israeli forces have continued to bombard Gaza with brutal air strikes after more than 1,400 Israelis were killed in Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israeli territory on October 7.

Gaza has since been blockaded and relentlessly shelled by Israel. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, more than 4,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed. 

Thousands gathered at Marble Arch in central London on Saturday afternoon, waving signs emblazoned with “Freedom for Palestine” and “Stop bombing Gaza.”

Speaking at the rally, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn slammed the Tories for failing to vote in a UN resolution that would allow humanitarian corridors into Gaza.

The vote to deliver the life-saving aid was cruelly vetoed by the US on Wednesday.

On Rishi Sunak’s support for Israel’s military offensive, Corbyn said the Prime Minister was “directly involving this country in a breach of international law by supporting the bombing of innocent civilians in Gaza.”

Protesters at the rally could also be heard chanting: “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”

Home Secretary Suella Braverman has claimed that the slogan, along with waving Palestinian flags, could be interpreted as “racially aggravated” and subject to potential prohibition under the Public Order Act.

Public order violations were among the charges given to the 10 arrested during the protest in London. 

As part of the clampdown, police are also investigating a Tube driver who chanted “Free, free,” to which the passengers responded, “Palestine” over the train’s speaker system.   

In Salford, 5,000 protesters demonstrated outside the BBC over its coverage of Israeli war crimes.

Manchester Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) accused the BBC of “repeating Israeli propaganda” by saying that the destruction on Tuesday of the al-Ahli Arab Christian Baptist hospital in Gaza had been caused by a Hamas rocket, not by an attack by Israel.

“This is despite no Palestinian rocket being capable of causing the carnage and mass-dea h we saw in that hospital, the warnings to the hospital Israel was going to bomb it and three phone warnings to the Evangelical church in Jerusalem from the Israeli Occupation Forces that they would strike the Baptist hospital before they did it,” PSC said.

“The BBC has been the ultimate cheerleader and enabler in the media for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, made all the more effective by the veneer of respectability wrongly granted to it.”

Another protester outside the BBC, Martin Odoni, said: “I’m Jewish and every time Israel commits an atrocity it claims it’s doing it in the name of Jewish people.

“I think it’s my duty to come out here and show, actually, a lot of Jews do not support what Israel is doing. An awful lot of us are not zionist at all.

“When they’re massacring Palestinians I more than don’t approve, I utterly condemn it.”

On the BBC, he said: “Well, look at the headlines they put up.

“When Israelis are killed they say these Israelis were killed by Palestinians.

“When Palestinians get killed, it’s Palestinians died when Israel attacked.

“There’s a blatant bias in the way the BBC reports these events and somebody’s got to tell them.”

In Birmingham, protesters voiced similar concerns as a crowd of 10,000 spilled through the streets in the city centre.

One protester, Abeera Kamran, described the media’s coverage as “hostile, isolating and prejudiced.”

“It’s not just media coverage but every institution has been using obscure language that hides the truth of the matter, which is the genocide against the Palestinians,” she said.

“It’s difficult to consume any media right now without feeling either confused, victimised or weaponised.” 

Another demonstrator, Aqsa Ijaz, complained: “There's been lots of mistruths that have been publicised by the mainstream media.

“They haven’t shown the horror that’s going on in Gaza and not just Gaza, but also Palestine.”

Her sister Mariyam, who was attending the rally with her, agreed and said that “misinformation is very rife.”

She said: “My local MP, Nicola Richards, sent me an email quoting the misinformation that Hamas bombed al-Ahli Hospital, which is in fact completely untrue.

“These people that we voted for are now spreading these lies, so really, it’s heartbreaking.”

Protester Usman Patel voiced disappointment at Labour’s stance on Israel, after leader Keir Starmer said Israel ‘has the right’ to cut off power and water in Gaza.

Mr Patel pointed out that a lot of Muslims in the area are supporters of the party. 

“So many councillors have resigned already” he said. 

“There's no backbone at all.”