October 11, 2025
This has been a huge one. Obviously, you can’t count these things; the police will give a number perhaps later, certainly tens of thousands of people out on the streets of London.
They’ve come from all over the country, they’ve come down on buses and trains. I’ve seen banners with the names of Bristol, Cambridge, Abergavenny, Chesterfield, Sheffield, and these are cities all over the UK.
It took well over an hour, probably an hour and a half, for the protesters to pass me as I was standing stationary. It was on a loop around Westminster and south of the River Thames as well.
At one point, it seemed as if the front of the loop would catch up with the back of the loop – that’s how many people there were.
Hani Mahmoud
People walk this exhausting, tiring journey back here [in the north] because they belong here. They keep telling us that they belong to this part of the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip, and they will never be uprooted from here.
But spending a night here is going to be very difficult.
Already, some families spent last night here as soon as they arrived, as it was too late for them to walk back, and they shared with us some of the difficulties they experienced.
Again, the ceasefire has just ended one form of violence, but the struggle continues.
The struggle to survive continues to present itself in the most aggressive way, not each day but each hour.
The head of US Central Command
(CENTCOM) says no US troops will be deployed to Gaza as 200 soldiers are set to
arrive in Israel to monitor the ceasefire.
In a statement on X, Admiral Brad Cooper said he just returned from Gaza to understand how to establish a “CENTCOM-led Civil-Military Coordination Centre (CMCC)” to connect activities to support “post-conflict stabilisation”.
“This great effort will be achieved with no US boots on the ground in Gaza,” Cooper wrote.
- Tens of thousands of forcibly displaced Palestinians are returning to devastated towns and cities in northern Gaza as the Israeli military ceases fire and partially withdraws from the territory under the first phase of a peace deal with Hamas.
- Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) have said they reject “any foreign guardianship” of the Gaza Strip. Gaza officials have called for an independent, international investigation into war crimes and genocide during Israel’s war.
- US President Donald Trump says Israeli captives held in Gaza are due for release on Monday.
- UNRWA has called for all crossings into Gaza to be opened, saying that there are 6,000 aid trucks ready to reach Gaza in hours.
- Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 67,682 people and wounded 170,033 since October 2023. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, attacks and about 200 were taken captive.
Pro-Palestinian
protesters come from all over UK to join ‘huge’ London demonstration
This has been a huge one. Obviously, you can’t count these things; the police will give a number perhaps later, certainly tens of thousands of people out on the streets of London.
They’ve come from all over the country, they’ve come down on buses and trains. I’ve seen banners with the names of Bristol, Cambridge, Abergavenny, Chesterfield, Sheffield, and these are cities all over the UK.
It took well over an hour, probably an hour and a half, for the protesters to pass me as I was standing stationary. It was on a loop around Westminster and south of the River Thames as well.
At one point, it seemed as if the front of the loop would catch up with the back of the loop – that’s how many people there were.
Ceasefire
ended ‘one form of violence, but the struggle continues’ in Gaza
People walk this exhausting, tiring journey back here [in the north] because they belong here. They keep telling us that they belong to this part of the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip, and they will never be uprooted from here.
But spending a night here is going to be very difficult.
Already, some families spent last night here as soon as they arrived, as it was too late for them to walk back, and they shared with us some of the difficulties they experienced.
Again, the ceasefire has just ended one form of violence, but the struggle continues.
The struggle to survive continues to present itself in the most aggressive way, not each day but each hour.
US
CENTCOM chief says no troops to be deployed to Gaza
In a statement on X, Admiral Brad Cooper said he just returned from Gaza to understand how to establish a “CENTCOM-led Civil-Military Coordination Centre (CMCC)” to connect activities to support “post-conflict stabilisation”.
“This great effort will be achieved with no US boots on the ground in Gaza,” Cooper wrote.
There
may be a ceasefire on the ground, but the siege has not ended. We still need
the freedom flotillas.
Sara AwadA group of ships of the Global Sumud Flotilla to Gaza are shown moored at the small island of Koufonisi, south of Crete on September 26, 2025 [AFP]
On October 10, a ceasefire in
Gaza was officially announced. International news media were quick to focus on
what they now call “the peace plan”. United States President Donald Trump, they
announced, will go to Cairo to oversee the agreement and then to Israel to
speak at the Knesset. The air strikes over Gaza, they reported, have stopped.
The bombs have indeed stopped, but our suffering continues. Our reality has not changed. We are still under siege. Israel still has full control over our air, land and sea; it is still blocking sick and injured Palestinians from leaving and journalists, war crimes investigators and activists from going in. It is still controlling what food, what medicine, and essential supplies enter.
The siege has lasted over 18 years, shaping every moment of our lives. I have lived under this blockade since I was just three years old. What kind of peace is this, if it will continue to deny us the freedoms that everyone else has?
The news of the ceasefire deal and “the peace plan” overshadowed another, much more important development. Israel raided another flotilla in international waters loaded with humanitarian aid for Gaza, kidnapping 145 people on board – a crime under international law. This came just days after Israel attacked the Global Sumud Flotilla, detaining more than 450 people who were trying to reach Gaza.
These flotillas carried more than just humanitarian aid. They carried the hope of freedom for the Palestinian people. They carried a vision of true peace – one where Palestinians are no longer besieged, occupied and dispossessed.
Many have criticised the freedom flotillas, arguing that they cannot make a difference since they are doomed to be intercepted. I myself did not pay much attention to the movement. I was deeply disappointed, having lost hope in seeing an end to this war.
But that changed when Brazilian journalist Giovanna Vial interviewed me. Giovanna wrote an article about my story before setting sail with the Sumud Flotilla. She then made a post on social media saying: “for Sara, we sail”. Her words and her courage stirred something in me.
Afterwards, I kept my eyes on the flotilla news, following every update with hope. I told my relatives about it, shared it with my friends, and reminded anyone who would listen how extraordinary this movement was. I kept wondering — how is it possible that, in a world so heavy with injustice, there are still people willing to abandon everything and put their lives in danger for people they had never met, for a place, most of them had never visited.
I stayed in touch with Giovanna. “Until my last breath, I will never leave you alone,” she wrote to me while sailing towards Gaza. In the midst of so much darkness, she became the light.
This was the first time in two years I felt like we were heard. We were seen.
The Sumud Flotilla was by far the biggest in the movement’s history, but it was not about how many boats there were or how many people were on board or how much humanitarian aid they carried. It was about putting a spotlight on Gaza — about making sure the world could no longer look away.
“All Eyes on Gaza,” read one post on the official Instagram account of the flotilla. It stayed with me, I read it on a very heavy night when the deafening sound of bombs in Gaza City was relentless. It was just before I had to flee my home due to the brutal Israeli onslaught.
Israel stopped the flotillas. They abused and deported the participants. They seized the aid. They may have prevented them from reaching our shores, but they failed to erase the message they carried. A message of peace. A message of freedom. A message we had been waiting to hear for two long, brutal years. The boats were captured, but the solidarity reached us.
I carry so much gratitude in my heart for every single human being who took part in the freedom flotillas. I wish I could reach each of them personally — to tell them how much their courage, their presence, and their solidarity meant to me, and to all of us in Gaza. We will never forget them. We will carry their names, their faces, their voices in our hearts forever.
To those who sailed toward us: thank you. You reminded us that we are not alone.
And to the world: we are clinging to hope. We are still waiting – still needing – more flotillas to come. Come to us. Help us break free from this prison.
The bombing has stopped now, and I can only hope that this time it does not resume in a few weeks. But we still do not have peace.
Governments have failed us. But the people have not.
One day, I know, the freedom flotilla boats will reach the shore of Gaza and we will be free.
The bombs have indeed stopped, but our suffering continues. Our reality has not changed. We are still under siege. Israel still has full control over our air, land and sea; it is still blocking sick and injured Palestinians from leaving and journalists, war crimes investigators and activists from going in. It is still controlling what food, what medicine, and essential supplies enter.
The siege has lasted over 18 years, shaping every moment of our lives. I have lived under this blockade since I was just three years old. What kind of peace is this, if it will continue to deny us the freedoms that everyone else has?
The news of the ceasefire deal and “the peace plan” overshadowed another, much more important development. Israel raided another flotilla in international waters loaded with humanitarian aid for Gaza, kidnapping 145 people on board – a crime under international law. This came just days after Israel attacked the Global Sumud Flotilla, detaining more than 450 people who were trying to reach Gaza.
These flotillas carried more than just humanitarian aid. They carried the hope of freedom for the Palestinian people. They carried a vision of true peace – one where Palestinians are no longer besieged, occupied and dispossessed.
Many have criticised the freedom flotillas, arguing that they cannot make a difference since they are doomed to be intercepted. I myself did not pay much attention to the movement. I was deeply disappointed, having lost hope in seeing an end to this war.
But that changed when Brazilian journalist Giovanna Vial interviewed me. Giovanna wrote an article about my story before setting sail with the Sumud Flotilla. She then made a post on social media saying: “for Sara, we sail”. Her words and her courage stirred something in me.
Afterwards, I kept my eyes on the flotilla news, following every update with hope. I told my relatives about it, shared it with my friends, and reminded anyone who would listen how extraordinary this movement was. I kept wondering — how is it possible that, in a world so heavy with injustice, there are still people willing to abandon everything and put their lives in danger for people they had never met, for a place, most of them had never visited.
I stayed in touch with Giovanna. “Until my last breath, I will never leave you alone,” she wrote to me while sailing towards Gaza. In the midst of so much darkness, she became the light.
This was the first time in two years I felt like we were heard. We were seen.
The Sumud Flotilla was by far the biggest in the movement’s history, but it was not about how many boats there were or how many people were on board or how much humanitarian aid they carried. It was about putting a spotlight on Gaza — about making sure the world could no longer look away.
“All Eyes on Gaza,” read one post on the official Instagram account of the flotilla. It stayed with me, I read it on a very heavy night when the deafening sound of bombs in Gaza City was relentless. It was just before I had to flee my home due to the brutal Israeli onslaught.
Israel stopped the flotillas. They abused and deported the participants. They seized the aid. They may have prevented them from reaching our shores, but they failed to erase the message they carried. A message of peace. A message of freedom. A message we had been waiting to hear for two long, brutal years. The boats were captured, but the solidarity reached us.
I carry so much gratitude in my heart for every single human being who took part in the freedom flotillas. I wish I could reach each of them personally — to tell them how much their courage, their presence, and their solidarity meant to me, and to all of us in Gaza. We will never forget them. We will carry their names, their faces, their voices in our hearts forever.
To those who sailed toward us: thank you. You reminded us that we are not alone.
And to the world: we are clinging to hope. We are still waiting – still needing – more flotillas to come. Come to us. Help us break free from this prison.
The bombing has stopped now, and I can only hope that this time it does not resume in a few weeks. But we still do not have peace.
Governments have failed us. But the people have not.
One day, I know, the freedom flotilla boats will reach the shore of Gaza and we will be free.
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