LONDON/BERLIN: Several thousand pro-Palestinian protesters marched through central London and Berlin on Saturday, calling for an end to Israeli strikes on Gaza, one year after the conflict escalated following Hamas's October 7 attack. Marchers carried placards reading "End the genocide" and "Free Palestine" as they made their way along the route near the British parliament.

"We are here today to mark a year of the ongoing genocide in Gaza," Aimee Shalan, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, told the crowd. She said Western sanctions over settler violence did not go far enough, calling for "full sanctions on Israel."

Although Israel has reduced its level of attacks in some areas, it has kept striking Gaza on a near-daily basis. Strikes have killed thousands of Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Police said they had made "several arrests," including individuals with placards supporting the organization Palestine Action, which is banned under UK law. Recent graduate Hibo Hassan, 23, said she was there to show her solidarity.

"Although it is happening in the Middle East, it affects us here now," she said. "It's extremely dystopian, and that is something we should all be scared about," she added.

Another protester, a 32-year-old Kosovar immigrant who gave his name as Kobe, said his own experience of war made him want to "stand up today and not let history repeat itself." A small counter-demonstration was organized by Stop The Hate UK, a Jewish-led, pro-Israel campaign group.