PALESTINE supporters mobilised in London and Manchester on Saturday in protest against brutal attacks mounted by the Israeli military on worshippers in the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

Emergency protests rallied more than 1,000 outside the Israeli embassy in London and hundreds more in Manchester, where a dozen organisations, including Jews for Palestine, voiced their anger.

The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) raided the mosque on Tuesday night when it was packed with worshippers marking the Islamic fasting period of Ramadan. The mosque is one of Islam’s holiest sites.

Soldiers were filmed firing stun grenades and beating worshippers using batons and rifle butts.

Medics from the Red Crescent were denied access to the injured.

Despite international outrage the raid was repeated on Wednesday night.

The attacks were among a mounting toll of Israeli violence against Palestinians since right-wing and far-right parties formed a coalition government in December under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Speakers in London condemned PM Rishi Sunak’s support for Israeli apartheid and called for support for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.

Palestine supporters are building for the 75th anniversary of the Nakba (Catastrophe), which struck Palestine when the Israeli state was founded on May 13, 1948, and for a protest at the annual general meeting of Barclays Bank, which helps fund Israeli weaponry, in London on May 3.

Palestine Solidarity Campaign said in a statement: “Palestinians are facing down Israel’s violence and need our solidarity.

“Palestinians have asked us to take sustained action through targeted campaigns to end the complicity of financial institutions, like Barclays bank, who support the violence perpetrated against them.”