PARENTS pushing baby-buggies stormed the offices of arms manufacturer British Aerospace today and released 100 black balloons – each one representing 100 children killed by the Israeli military in Gaza.

The protest came as tens of thousands prepared to gather in London tomorrow for the capital’s fifth national demonstration demanding a ceasefire, alongside many more demos across Britain.

The BAE Systems protest was held by Parents for Palestine, which was launched soon after Israel began its murderous attack on Gaza, an assault believed to have so far left 13,000 civilians dead and more lying beneath the ruins of homes and schools.

Among those taking part in the British Aerospace protest was Clare Welton, a young mother pushing her twin boys, aged six-and-a-half months, in a baby buggy.

She told the Morning Star: “There were about 100 people – parents, babies, small children.

“Some people went into the building. There were two entrances. We managed to get in, into the atrium.

“Security tried to stop people but people were coming in with baby buggies and it was difficult for them. They were a bit heavy-handed with some people.

“The balloons were released and someone read out the statistics of what was going on, and how much BAE Systems are making out of what’s happening.

“This year Israel announced it would be increasing its fleet of F-35 fighter jets by 50 per cent.

“This amounted to a purchase or order of $3 billion.

“BAE Systems builds 13 to 15 per cent of their jets, meaning that they stand to make hundreds of millions of pounds from weapons used in the oppression and murder of Palestinians.”

She said Parents for Palestine was initially “just a few friends who were disgusted at the horrendous death toll.

“To us parents it is the unimaginable horror that children will be facing. The bombing, the siege, unable to get out,” said Ms Welton.

“My twins were born prematurely and had to spend a lot of time in neonatal care.

“Seeing the destruction of hospitals and the babies being pulled out of incubators because there was no fuel was the hardest thing for me. People feel very emotional.”

Israeli air strikes on Gaza are believed to have killed more than 5,500 Palestinian children – one child every 10 minutes – and 1,800 children are missing under the rubble, most presumed dead. A further 9,000 children have been injured.

More than a million children in Gaza are in the line of fire, without access to water, food, medicines, and shelter. 

Kate Joseph of Parents for Palestine said: “We cannot imagine the pain and fear that parents in Gaza are going through.

“How are we to explain to our children that British companies based in our hometown are supporting the murder of children in Palestine?

“That we are exporting bombs and refusing to call for a ceasefire? For the sake of all children everywhere, the siege on Gaza must end and the occupation must end.” 

Independent advocacy group Cage has accused the Metropolitan Police of bullying pro-Palestinian protesters.

The group said it has documented a growing number of cases where police are “employing intimidatory and bullish tactics against what are otherwise legal forms of demonstration in the name of combating ‘hate crimes.’ 

“These tactics are representative of the deep seated nature of Islamophobia and racism inherent within the Metropolitan Police.”

Regional protests on Saturday include a demonstration for Gaza in Leeds, assembling in City Square at 11.45am.

Organisers said: “The brief truce will not stop the humanitarian disaster unfolding before our eyes. It will not stop the bombs returning. Lasting for just four days, the truce will hardly provide a pause in the suffering – it is far from a ceasefire.”

Wales for a Free Palestine has also organised a march and rally in Cardiff Central Square for tomorrow, starting next to the railway station at 1pm.

An all-Wales boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign will be launched at the rally and speakers include Palestinians Sumayya Ahmed and Lujane Conibear, Natasha Hirst (NUJ), Marianne Owens (PCS) and PSC honorary president Betty Hunter.

“This is the moral issue of our time as we see the callous slaughter of innocent people, which is ethnic cleansing bordering on genocide,” Ms Hunter said.

Singer and campaigner Charlotte Church will perform following the march.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal said: “This Saturday, ordinary people across the UK will come out again to show the vast majority of them support a ceasefire.

“They will show their solidarity with Palestinians who are suffering unimaginable harm.

“They will also demand the root causes are not forgotten – Israel’s decades-long military occupation of Palestinian territories and its system of apartheid against Palestinians.

“We demand justice for the Palestinian people – their right to self-determination and to live in freedom, safety, and with full human rights.”

The Stop the War Coalition said: “Without an immediate and permanent ceasefire and a commitment by all sides to a just and lasting peace, our movement will continue marching and demonstrating for those very things.”