A UK-based Palestine advocacy group assembled outside 10 Downing Street on Thursday, home of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in opposition to the government’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
Friends of Al-Aqsa (FOA) invited hundreds of school children to lay over 400 coffins outside the British prime minister’s office as part of a vigil to highlight the killing of thousands of Gaza’s children by Israel.
More than 6,150 children have been killed by Israel’s relentless bombing of the besieged Gaza Strip in under 8 weeks.
FOA said the names of over 2,500 slain children were written on the coffins.
The group said they also had been influenced by the recent UNICEF report, which revealed that one child is killed every 10 minutes in Gaza which has been described as "a graveyard for thousands of children".
Video on social media of the largely attended vigil show attendees paying tribute to the children of Gaza while waving banners that read ‘Ceasefire Now’ and ‘Free Palestine’.
UK pro-Palestine activists and politicians, including Friends of Al-Aqsa, have condemned the UK government’s response to the ongoing violence against Palestinians. The UK has reaffirmed its support for a 'humanitarian pause' instead of a full ceasefire, while also claiming Israel has a "right to self defence".
The UK's House of Commons rejected calls for a ceasefire in Israel's war in Gaza late on November 15.
Newly-appointed Foreign Secretary David Cameron has since spoken out about the increasing casualty toll in Gaza and stated Israel must abide by international law.
Cameron also warned that civilian casualties from its war on Gaza are "too high", despite reiterating that Israel has "a right to self-defence", which has consistently become the UK’s government line.
"When I met the Israeli president, prime minister and others, I stressed over and over again that they must abide by international humanitarian law, that the number of casualties are too high and they have to have that at the top of their minds," Cameron told the BBC.
Israel resumed deadly attacks on Friday following the expiry of a week-long truce that allowed an increase in aid flows into Gaza, while scores of Israeli hostages were exchanged for hundreds of Palestinians detained by Israel.