A FIERCE and relentless barrage of artillery strikes hit the people of Gaza yesterday as Israeli troops and armoured vehicles rolled into the area.

The action marked 23 days of a siege that has left Palestinians without food, water or fuel and came as British Home Secretary Suella Braverman claimed following an emergency Cobra meeting that the hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets to call for a ceasefire were taking part in “hate marches.”

She urged police officers to take a “zero-tolerance approach to anti-semitism” after the meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, yesterday.

The meeting was called after just five protesters out of some half a million people in London were arrested on Saturday.

A No 10 source said the PM used the meeting to ask the police and security services to ensure they are taking steps to mitigate against the risk of terrorism.

Kate Hudson of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, which is one of the organisers of the demonstrations, said that government efforts to criminalise protest and silence voices will not succeed.

She told the Morning Star: “The outpouring of solidarity for the Palestinians shows that — in spite of the lies and propaganda we are subjected to — the overwhelming majority of people make their own judgements on matters of life and death.

“And in their wisdom, they are standing for life, for justice and for law.

“We are opposing unspeakable crimes, and we will not be stopped.

“So many lives have been taken and thousands more are at risk. In the name of our common humanity, we must redouble our work, not resting until peace prevails and Palestine is free.”

War on Want director Asad Rehman said “enough is enough,” writing on X: “The deeply racist undertones that frame how the media and politicians talk about British citizens who happen to be Muslim — because they oppose war crimes and racist dehumanisation of Palestinians is no less valid than when parts of the Jewish community raised their concerns about anti-semitism.

“The normalisation and creation of a hierarchy of racism [excuses] such Islamophobia or questions the loyalty of British Muslims and … is leading to commentators talking about how British Muslims are a problem for UK/Europe and need to be ‘policed’ with more anti-terror laws.

“This is exactly what was said about Jews in 1909 and paved the way for the horrors we know all too well.

“It was racist then as it is now. And it is vile that this goes unchallenged.”

Labour frontbencher Afzal Khan, one of the party’s MPs opposing its pro-war stance, said that labelling the protests against “the indiscriminate killing of thousands of innocent Palestinians” is “disingenuous, dangerous and deeply contradictory to the right we all hold to protest.”

Stop the War Coalition said that the organisers have called for two more weeks of mass action in solidarity with Palestine and “against our government’s disgraceful support for Israel’s assault.”

The Tories are refusing to call for a ceasefire and Education Minister Robert Halfon reiterated yesterday that the government has been “absolutely clear” that it is “not the answer.”

Despite international calls for civilians to be protected and for more humanitarian aid to be let into Gaza, the Israelis have continued their military operation targeting hospitals, schools, aid centres and residential buildings.

Israeli authorities claim, without providing evidence, that such buildings have Hamas command-and-control centres beneath them.

The Israeli siege has pushed Gaza’s already fragile infrastructure to collapse.

With no central power for weeks and little fuel, hospitals are struggling to keep emergency generators running to operate incubators and other life-saving equipment.

The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has been trying to keep water pumps and bakeries running.

But last week, UN officials said hunger among the Palestinians was growing.

Despite the siege and massive bombardment many Palestinians have remained in Gaza City, afraid that if they leave, they will never be allowed back by the Israelis.

They have also heard that even though the Israelis have ordered civilians to head towards southern Gaza, air strikes have also targeted people fleeing for safety.

Medical officials in al-Shifa and al-Quds hospitals said air strikes had hit near their buildings over the last few days.

The UN said around 117,000 civilians are sheltering alongside thousands of patients and doctors in hospitals in the north.

All 10 hospitals operating in northern Gaza have received evacuation orders, but the UN said staff have refused to leave, saying evacuation would mean death for patients on ventilators.

Air strikes have also reportedly hit the southern towns of Rafah near Gaza’s border crossing with Egypt, the only one not blocked by Israel, as well as east of Khan Younis.

The communications networks cut by the Israelis in Gaza on Friday had largely been restored by Monday.

Local residents reported that the blackout period saw some of the heaviest bombardments by the Israelis since the uprising by Hamas on October 7.

Medical authorities in Gaza said on Sunday that 8,005 people had been killed. The death toll included some 3,324 children.

The UN said that about 1,800 people, including at least 940, have been reported missing and may be trapped or dead under the rubble as of October 29.

Israel has said 1,400 people were killed when Hamas staged its uprising on October 7 and took 229 prisoners of war

Hamas has released four so far but said 50 had been killed by Israeli air strikes.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad said their members were also fighting Israeli forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Jenin, where scores of Palestinians have been killed and hundreds arrested since October 7.

Israeli authorities said on Monday it had arrested 700 Hamas fighters in the West Bank.

The Palestinian Health Ministry reported four people had been killed during the Jenin raids on Monday.

There are fears that the war will spill over into the region, including in Lebanon, where the Israeli army and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group have been exchanging fire.

On Monday, Syrian state TV said Israeli air strikes targeted two army posts in Daraa, leading to “some material losses.”

Around 250,000 Israelis have been evacuated from their homes because of violence along the border with Gaza and the northern border with Lebanon, according to the Israeli military.